


The Schooner

by regolithheart



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: F/M, The Rampion, cresswell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-05-12 16:36:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 52,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5672836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/regolithheart/pseuds/regolithheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU Cresswell one-shot where Thorne is the shy, dorky one and Cress is the most popular girl in school // Thorne's ears turned bright pink. He obviously couldn't lie to her. He reached behind him and pulled out his model ship, holding it up for her to inspect. "I … um … came here to test the motor on my model ship."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Thorne shielded his eyes from the bright Saturday morning sunlight, his left arm tucked under his model ship firmly. He hitched up his backpack and made his way down to the lake, but his steps slowed when he saw a petite girl sitting on the bench he usually occupied. The girl had long wavy hair pulled into an elaborate braid that draped over her shoulder. He gulped, recognizing her immediately. 

He wondered if he should turn around and go home. It wasn’t too late. She had not seen him and he could make a quick getaway, but then he scolded himself. How was he ever going to profess his undying love for her when he couldn’t bring up the courage to talk to her? He scolded himself again. Who was he kidding, he would never be able to tell her how he really felt. Not when every other boy in their senior class was also in love with the prettiest, smartest, and most popular girl in school. 

He must have been standing there too long because the girl turned around and saw him.

“Carswell?” She looked surprised.

Thorne could feel the heat rising up his cheeks. He walked up, hesitating for a second before speaking. 

 “Hi Cress.” He rubbed his free hand against the back of his neck before adding, “You can call me Thorne.”

Cress tucked the book she was reading into her lap and smiled at him. He felt his stomach do somersaults. She scooted over, making room for him. 

 “Have a seat, _Thorne_.”

Thorne set the model ship and his backpack down on the ground beside the bench, hiding it from her view and sat, careful to keep a body’s worth of space between them.

 “I didn’t know you came here,” he said, eyes falling to his fidgeting hands.

Cress sighed. “Sometimes, when I want to … get away from everything.” Her eyes looked out towards the lake. 

Thorne nodded. He looked over to her, curious to see what she was reading. A tattered copy of the complete poems of John Keats sat on her lap. He could see that several pages were dog-eared and little bits of paper and ribbon stuck out at various intervals. Thorne smiled to himself. Before he could ask her about the book, Cress spoke up.

“So what are you doing here?” she asked. She tilted her head as if she were trying to see what was behind Thorne.

Thorne’s ears turned bright pink. He obviously couldn’t lie to her. He reached behind him and pulled out his model ship, holding it up for her to inspect. “I … um … came here to test the motor on my model ship.”

Cress’ twinkling blue eyes lit up. “Really? You _built_ that?”

Thorne rubbed his hand along the back of his neck again. “Yeah.”

“That’s amazing,” Cress cooed. She reached out to touch the painted wood of the ship. “The Rampion,“ she read, as her fingers brushed the gold writing along the ship’s stern. 

“It’s a schooner,” Thorne clarified, not sure why he felt compelled to explain. 

She looked up at him. Her sapphire blue eyes caught him off guard and he fell momentarily breathless. She smiled as her attention returned to the ship.

“Is it supposed to have sails?”

“It does, but I just reinstalled the engine this morning and I wanted to test it out.” Thorne chucked. “To be honest, I’ve been itching to bring it out here. It took three whole days to finish all of the painting. I was going insane waiting for paint to dry!” 

Cress smiled at Thorne’s enthusiasm. “Does that make you the captain?” 

Thorne chuckled nervously. “Yeah. I guess it does.”

Cress leaned in closer to examine the ship and Thorne’s body tensed. She smelled like roses. 

“Do you … do you want to see it sail?” 

“Only if I can be the first mate.” She grinned devilishly. 

Thorne blushed. He stood up, almost too quickly, and tugged at his collar. “Right. So, I’m going to set The Rampion in the water. Can you look for the remote in my pack? It should be in the front pocket.”

Cress hopped up and saluted him. “Aye aye, Captain.” 

Thorne couldn’t help but grin, glad that she couldn’t see how that salutation delighted him. He walked to the water’s edge and gently placed The Rampion down. He let out a sigh of relief when it didn’t immediately sink to the bottom. Cress stepped up beside him and handed him the remote.

“Well, here goes.” Thorne let out a breath and flipped the power switch. He pushed the throttle with his thumb and The Rampion glided forward.

Cress jumped and let out a whoop. Thorne grinned again, knowing exactly how she felt.

“I like your smile. You have nice dimples,” Cress said, out of nowhere.

Thorne turned to look at her, but her eyes were fixed on The Rampion. 

“Th—thanks,” he replied, unsure what he should say next. Should he compliment her back? There were so many things he liked about her: the way her freckles splattered across her face like stars in the night sky, how she smelled like a blooming garden and looked like sunshine, how she always said good morning to him in the hallways when no one else did, how she always seemed so confident and self-assured, how her sapphire eyes mesmerized him and left him constantly feeling breathless. He didn’t know what to say so he didn’t say anything. 

They stood side-by-side in silence as The Rampion glided around the lake. 

“Weren’t schooners used by pirates?” Cress’s voice broke the silence.

Thorne tried to hide a smile. “Yeah. I guess so, but I never said I was a hero.”

Cress laughed and it sounded like crystal bells. Thorne was going to have to add that to the list of things he liked about her. He wanted to ask her what she was doing after this. Maybe she’d want to go get a coffee, but before he could open his mouth, her phone buzzed, making them both jump.

Cress reached into her pocket and read her text message, frowning. “I’m sorry. I have to go.” 

Thorne nodded disappointedly. Maybe he could give her a ride wherever she needed to go, but before he could even say anything she had already collected her things and was waving bye to him.

“That was fun. Thanks for showing me your ship. I can’t wait to see it when it’s completely finished.” 

“Thanks for being my first mate.”

Cress winked. “Anytime,” and then she was gone.

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Hi Cress … _Hi_ Cress … Hi _Cress_ … Hi, Cress … Cress, Hi … Hello?” 

Thorne mumbled to himself as he made sure The Rampion was secure in the back of his Jeep. He covered the model ship with a tarp and as soon as he was satisfied that no harm would come to it, he locked his car and made his way into the school. 

Thorne had spent all week adjusting the motor on his ship and tediously stringing the sails. He had countless cuts on his fingers, but it was all worth it when at 2am that morning he leaned back to look at a perfectly built model schooner. He was incredibly proud of himself and the only thing that would make him any happier was to show it off to Cress. 

He stood at his locker, stealing glances down the hall at Cress and her group of friends. He had wanted to talk to her all week, but every time he had the opportunity to, he chickened out. It also didn’t help that she was always with one of the people surrounding her now. There was Kai, student body president and captain of the debate team and possibly the most popular guy in school. His arms were draped around his girlfriend, Cinder, who was just as popular and had a reputation of being a badass since she was the only girl in the advanced shop class. Then there was Scarlet, the feisty redhead who was captain of the cheerleading squad and who kind of terrified him, but not as much as her hulking boyfriend, the star wide receiver of the football team. Just his sheer height and the wildness of his hair was enough to intimidate Thorne, but add the fact that his nickname was Wolf and his biceps were thicker than both of Thorne’s lanky arms combined…

No, he was definitely too terrified to talk to Cress, but at least now, he had an actual reason to. Thorne steeled himself when he saw Cress and her entourage making their way down the hall. He closed his locker and waited for them to pass. When she was just an arm’s length away he cleared his throat.

“Hey—uh—Cress.” 

Cress turned and saw him. “Oh, hi Thorne.” She smiled, revealing the dimple in her right cheek.

Thorne unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He was hoping he could grab a minute alone with her, hoped that her friends would keep on walking but they stopped to watch. He definitely hadn’t prepared for an audience. He must have hesitated too long, or her friends were looking at him too curiously because Cress spoke up.

“Thorne, do you know these guys? Kai, Cinder, Scarlet, Wolf. Guys, this is Thorne.” 

Thorne smiled weakly at them and couldn’t imagine how he got himself into his current predicament. 

Kai stepped forward totally at ease which made Thorne even more self-conscious. “Aren’t you that guy … in the astronomy club?” 

Thorne’s cheeks flushed. “Uh, yeah.” 

Thorne saw Wolf’s shoulders shake with a silent chuckle and Cinder’s elbow jabbing him in the ribs.

Cress took a half-step closer to Thorne. “Really? You’re in the astronomy club?”

Thorne nodded.

“I’m sure pirates had to know astronomy to be able to navigate their ships.” Cress’s eyes twinkled mischievously. 

Relaxing, Thorne smiled one of his genuine dimpled smiles.

“Hey, no offense man.” Kai said to Thorne.

“S’okay.” Thorne mumbled.

“Cress, we’re going to be late for class.” Scarlet urged, casting a look over to Thorne.

Thorne looked over to Cress, catching her eye for a split second before turning his gaze to the ground.

“You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up.” Cress said, waving her friends along. 

Thorne heard their feet shuffling away and his shoulders relaxed. He looked up to see her looking at him curiously.

“Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?”

Thorne rubbed the back of his neck again. “Um, yeah—yes. I wanted to tell you that The Rampion is done.” 

Cress’s eyes gleamed. “Really?”

“Finished tying all the sails last night.” Throne raised his hand showing off his bandaged fingers. “Umm, I thought you might want to see it sail off on its maiden voyage … today … after school.” 

Cress’s smile disappeared from her face and Thorne felt his heart tighten.

“I’m sorry, Thorne. I can’t. I have a date tonight.” She looked almost as bashful as he felt. 

Thorne forced a chuckle. “Of course. No worries.” He shifted his backpack, fiddling with its ties. “How about this weekend?” His hastily added.

Cress gave him a weak smile. “Well, there’s the game on Saturday and I have a paper due on Monday—“

Thorne nodded, not taking his eyes off his feet. “I understand.”

“You should come.”

Thorne looked up at her.

“To the game. You should come to the game. I mean, if you weren’t planning on it. A bunch of us are going.” Cress looked hopefully at him.

“Uh—yeah. Maybe.” Thorne replied. He had never been to a football game before, but maybe he could go to this one, if Cress was asking him to. _Was she asking him?_

Cress grinned at him and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I should really get to class.”

“Yeah, me too. Have fun on your date tonight.” Thorne’s heart ached.

“Thanks.”

He turned and they made their way down the corridor in opposite directions.

* * *

Thorne leaned against the park bench and sighed. How had he been so foolish to think that Cress could ever like him, or even that they could be friends. Of course she didn’t need him as a friend when she had people like the head cheerleader and star football player as friends. Thorne dragged a hand down his face, groaning.

He reached into his backpack and pulled out a mini bottle of sparking apple cider. He had picked the fanciest bottle he could find that morning at the grocery store in hopes that Cress would be there with him, toasting to The Rampion. Stars, he had been so foolish. Thorne ripped off the red ribbon and gold foil on the bottle and popped the cork. Standing up, he walked over to The Rampion floating on the lake and splashed some apple cider against its starboard side. He flipped the switch, nudged the throttle and watched as the schooner glided along the lake. 

Thorne practically downed the bottle of cider in one gulp. 

As he sailed The Rampion around the lake, his thoughts drifted back to Cress and that morning’s conversation. She did invite him to the football game tomorrow didn’t she? Of course, her friends would be around but at least Cinder wasn’t so bad and Kai did apologize for embarrassing him. And Wolf and Scarlet would be on the field. Maybe he should go. Maybe she did want to be friends. 

He sighed again, turning the knobs of the controls to bring The Rampion back to him. His heart just wasn’t in it and it didn’t feel right sailing The Rampion without his first mate by his side. Aces, he was pathetic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Shoutout to lovelunarchron for persuading me to post another chapter of this. I have a couple more ideas if people want to see this continue. Comments and likes are always appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who commented, liked, and asked for more. This is now a full-fledged chaptered fic! Please note that I've changed the rating to T for teens and up. They are in high school after all...

Thorne pulled into the school's parking lot that Saturday afternoon full of nerves. He had spent most of the morning going back and forth between utter elation at the prospect of hanging out with Cress for two hours and the complete terror of hanging out with Cress for  _two hours_. Four times he talked himself out of showing up to the game and four times he convinced himself he was being silly. The fifth time he thought maybe going was a bad idea after all, he flopped face first onto his bed and buried his head into his pillow. In the end though, the logical part of his brain won out and he decided that he couldn't let the hour he had spent researching high school football rules and regulations the night before go to waste.

By the time Thorne walked through the gates of the school's stadium, they were already through with the first quarter. The cheering was deafening and after seeing the sheer amount of people in the stands, Thorne began to grow anxious that he wouldn't be able to find Cress. He scolded himself for not having the forethought to ask for her number; at least he would have had an excuse.

Thorne shifted his weight back and forth as he nervously looked up into the stands in hopes of spotting Cress, but all he could see were hundreds of people clad in the orange and teal of East Commons High School's colors. To make matters worse, countless banners and pennants waved back and forth and some faces were even obscured with bright face paint. Thorne hoped Cress wasn't a face-painter.

Just as Thorne was beginning to lose all hope of spotting a tiny 5-foot-tall girl in the wild crowd, he saw a familiar lean figure with jet-black hair frantically waving a poster. Thorne started to make his way up the stairs to Kai when his gaze fell first onto Cinder, who was hollering into a plastic teal, cone and then to Cress—his breath hitched—with a guy's arm draped around her shoulder.

Thorne froze.

He never had any illusions that Cress was asking him out on a date, or even that she invited him for any other reason than to be nice to that quiet kid at school, but seeing her there now with some handsome guy's arm around her shoulder so casually filled him with dread. He felt his whole body deflate. Hoping no one had noticed him, he turned on his heels, ready to descend the stairs.

Someone called out his name. "Thorne! Thorne!"

Hoping he could pretend not to hear them over the roar of the crowd he kept his head down and continued walking.

Then, three voices called his name in unison. "THORNE!"

He turned around slowly and looked up. Kai, Cinder, and Cress were all waving for him to come join them. He noticed that the people around him were looking at him curiously, wondering why some of the most popular kids in school were calling to him. He could feel the heat crawling up his cheeks. He might have been shy and he might be awkward, but he wasn't a coward. Thorne set his jaw and made his way up the steps again, towards Cress.

"Thorne!" Cress's eyes lit up when he finally reached them.

Thorne felt a hand clap on his shoulder. "Hey, glad to see you made it." Kai grinned at him.

"Hi Thorne," Cinder greeted him cheerfully as she pulled him forward, squeezing him between herself and Cress.

Thorne stumbled forward.

"Oh, come on! Boo!" The guy with his arm around Cress's shoulder hollered at the field, completely ignoring Thorne.

Cress rolled her eyes and jabbed his ribs sharply with her elbow. The guy flinched and looked down at her.

"Julian, this is Thorne."

Thorne gave Julian a weak wave and Julian returned with an uninterested head nod. Cress rolled her eyes again before returning her attention to Thorne. She tried to hide her laughter, but failed.

"Aces, what are you wearing?"

Thorne looked down at his heather-gray t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Sadly, it had taken him thirty minutes to come up with something that made him look like he wasn't trying desperately to impress Cress. He looked at her slightly embarrassed and confused.

"Are you at a football game or doing laundry? Where's your school spirit?!"

"Oh." Thorne nervously rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He hadn't thought about having to wear school colors, but as the sea of orange and teal assaulted his eyes, he realized how clueless he had been.

Cress laughed again. She pulled Julian's arm off of her and reached up to remove the teal scarf wrapped around her neck.  _Go Warriors_  was scrawled along its length in orange thread. She draped the scarf around Thorne's shoulders. The lingering scent of her perfume almost made him dizzy.

"There. Much better," Cress said, smirking.

Thorne held one of the loose ends in his hands. "Are you sure?"

Cress smirked again. "Of course! I have to admit, it looks better on you anyways," she said, before giving him a wink.

Thorne smiled to himself and his grin grew when he noticed Julian trying to wrap his arm around Cress's shoulder and her batting him away. After the third time it happened, he had to disguise his laugh as a coughing fit. Cress patted him on the back.

When half-time rolled around, Cress leaned over to talk to Thorne. "This isn't so bad is it?"

Thorne grinned. "I have to admit, it's pretty fun."

"A-ha!" she exclaimed smugly. Thorne noticed her eyes dip down to his dimples before flickering back up to meet his gaze. He blushed.

With her guard down, Julian was able to snake his arm around Cress's waist and leaned in to kiss her neck. She stiffened, but turned her head towards him, eyelashes fluttering.

"Julian, can you get me something to drink, please?"

Thorne thought he could see disappointment in Julian's eyes and felt his own heart tug, recognizing the familiar pain, but then the boy's steel-grey eyes flashed to Thorne and he smirked. Taken aback, Thorne watched uncomfortably as Julian leaned in to kiss Cress and stood up.

"Sure thing, babe."

Thorne frowned as Julian walked off, instantly regretting any empathy he had for the guy. As he fidgeted with the teal and orange fringe at the end of Cress's scarf, Cinder leaned over him and practically hissed at Cress.

"He's so gross. If you don't break up with him, I'm doing it for you."

Throne leaned back, giving the girls some space.

"I'm not breaking up with him because we're  _not_ going out," Cress hissed back.

Cinder gave her a pointed look.

"Okay, I went out on two dates with him. That's hardly  _dating_. And last night was a disaster. I don't even know why he's here. It's not like I asked him to come." Cress's eyes flashed briefly to Thorne.

Feeling incredibly uncomfortable sitting between the two girls, Thorne made to stand up, but Cress's hand on his shoulder stopped him. He sat as still as a statue, his eyes glued to his feet.

"Anyway," Cress said, her normal voice returning. "I'm going to ask him to give me a ride home and give him the bad news."

Thorne's head whipped up. "Really?" His face suddenly flushed with embarrassment at his own outburst. "I mean, yeah. Cinder's right. He does seem like kind of a jerk."

Cinder nodded approvingly. "I like this one."

Cress's smile returned. "You're going to like him even more when you find out he builds his own motored sail boats."

Cinder eyed Thorne. "Really?"

He flushed with embarrassment again. "Yes, but they're just model boats. Although, some day—"

"What kind of motor are you using?"

Cinder and Thorne began having a heated debate over how many volts he actually needed in his motor and the pros and cons of having a built-in noise suppression capacitor. He was actually enjoying himself and only realized they had been excluding Cress when Kai walked up to hand Cinder the snacks he had gotten for them.

Thorne turned bashfully to Cress. "Sorry about that. I guess I just got caught up with all my nerd talk."

Cress smiled at him. "Don't be. To be honest, we're used to it with Cinder and now she finally has someone to talk to about that stuff."

Cinder handed Thorne two bottles of water and a bag of Skittles. Thorne took them from her, slightly confused, and passed it on to Cress. She grabbed the candy and a bottle of water, winked at him, and called out. "Thanks, Kai!"

Thorne looked down at the water left in his hand and then over to Kai who was now "helping" Cinder stuff popcorn into her mouth.

"Uh—thanks, Kai," Thorne said.

"No problem. Sorry Thorne, I don't know what snacks you like so—" Cinder took the opportunity to punch her boyfriend in the arm as retaliation. He flinched and grabbed his arm in pain but laughed all the same.

"Here, you can share with me," Cress said, tearing open the bag of Skittles. "Hold out your hands."

Thorne cupped his hands in front of him and Cress dumped out the entire contents of the bag into them. She didn't look up at him as she fished around for the blue ones. When she was satisfied that she had found the last one, she popped them into her mouth all at once and munched happily. Cress laughed as Thorne looked at her incredulously.

After she finally swallowed, she stuck out her tongue revealing a bright blue streak. "Maybe that will put Julian off from trying to kiss me."

Thorne couldn't help but laugh. He let her help him tip the rest of the Skittles back into the bag and popped a couple into his own mouth.

"So how did The Rampion's maiden voyage go?" Cress asked, before taking a sip of water.

Thorne looked down, picking up his own water bottle and rolled it back and forth in his hands. "It was great." He lied. "But it would have been better with a first mate."

"I'm sorry I missed it."

 _Me too,_  Thorne thought.

"But, hey! There's always next time right?" Her smile was contagious and Thorne had to smile too.

"Next time for what?" Julian asked, returning with Cress's drink. He eyed the water bottle in her hand.

Cress laughed light-heartedly and held up the bottle. "Sorry Julian, Kai got drinks for us."

"Yeah, no problem," Julian said, but the look in his eyes made Thorne think that there definitely was a problem.

Thorne wanted to put a protective arm around Cress and tell Julian to leave, but he was also afraid of an actual confrontation. He was at least four inches taller than Julian, but from the look of Julian's forearms, Thorne knew that he would be no match in an actual physical altercation. The best Thorne could do for Cress was to scoot closer to Cinder a couple of inches so that Cress could put even the tiniest bit of distance between herself and Julian, but he knew that small gesture wasn't enough. Like he had told her last week, he wasn't a hero.

The crowd began to cheer as the teams made their way back onto the field, the game resuming. Julian took his seat next to Cress and Thorne clenched his fists. Cress stood up and cheered along with the crowd, pulling Thorne up with her. He waved his arms and hollered, hoping to drive away the anxiety that was crawling up his spine.

Luckily, Julian didn't try to put his arm around Cress the rest of the game and when there was a lull during the third quarter, Cress and Thorne took turns throwing Skittles into each other's mouths. When Cress accidentally misaimed and a Skittle hit the side of Cinder's head, she and Kai joined their game too. Julian didn't look happy, but he seemed more dejected than angry and Thorne almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

As the clock on the fourth quarter dwindled down, Thorne was jumping up and down with Cress and Cinder, hollering at the top of his lungs. He had even borrowed Cinder's cheer cone at one point which made Cress laugh to no end. There were only eleven seconds left in the game and Wolf had just scored a touchdown, making them just one point behind Luna High.

"They're going to go for it. Conversion. They're going to go for it," Kai chanted, punching his fist into his hand nervously.

Cinder chewed on her nails, just as nervous as Kai. Cress clutched one of the loose ends of her scarf, still around Thorne's neck, while he held the other just as tight. The ball snapped; Kinney, their quarterback was being pushed back by the defensive line, Thorne heard Cress squeak next to him while Cinder let out some colorful vocabulary. Kinney shifted backwards to the twenty-five yard line and started to make a run for it but the defensive end charged at him and in a last ditch effort he threw the ball wide. They held their collective breath as the ball spiraled in the air and a large pair of hands caught it. Not only had Wolf caught it, but he executed a spectacular back-flip over the cornerback's head, landing firmly on both feet in the end zone.

The eruption from the crowd rattled Thorne's skull.

"That's my best friend! That's my best friend!" Kai hollered.

"Hey!" Cinder yelled.

"That's my second best friend! That's my second best friend!" Kai corrected himself.

"Hey!" Now it was Cress's turn to be indignant.

"That's ONE of my best friends!" Kai's voice was hoarse now, but he kept on waving his poster in the air. A poster that had a large picture of a fierce wolf and #62 scribed in large orange block letters.

Thorne laughed, feeling almost as elated as Kai, and even joined the rest of the group as they all hollered the words to the fight song that the marching band had started playing. All of them except for Cress, who was singing—actually singing—and the words that weren't drowned out by the crowd were beautiful. Thorne looked at her, surprised, as if he needed another reason to be in love with this incredible girl. She caught his eye and wiggled her eyebrows at him.

As if Cress's voice put him in a trance, Thorne did not realize that the crowd had significantly cleared out until Cinder poked him in the shoulder. He turned to look at her.

"So do you want to come with us for pizza or what?"

Pizza? They were asking him to hang out with them?

"I—uh—" Thorne looked over to Cress.

"Julian's taking me home. I have a paper due on Monday, but you should go with them." She smiled at him encouragingly.

From behind Cress, Thorne could see Julian smirking and instead of feeling his usual pang of embarrassment or even sadness, an anger rose up in him. He didn't want Julian to take her home. He didn't want Julian anywhere near her.

"I can take you home if you want," Thorne blurted out.

Cress looked at him oddly. "No, it's okay. Julian can do it. You'll have a much better time with Cinder and Kai." Her usual smile returned to her face.

Thorne looked at her friends who were looking back at him expectantly. He did have fun with them today and they were a lot easier to talk to than he thought they would be. He could easily see why they were popular, but not in that snotty, stuck up way and Thorne thought maybe he could be their friend too.

"Yeah, sure. Let's go get pizza," Thorne replied to them. The words didn't feel forced and it surprised him.

"Great!" Kai exclaimed, gathering up all of their paraphernalia. "Wolf and Scarlet are going to meet us."

Thorne gulped. He hadn't realized that they would be coming too. Maybe it wasn't too late to change his mind, but then Cress waved goodbye to them and left with Julian. Thorne held her scarf in his hands and watched as they went, hoping that Kai and Cinder couldn't see the longing in his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

The pizza parlor wasn't nearly as crowded as Thorne thought it would be. While all of the seats were filled, there wasn't a line out the door and certainly no rowdy teenagers hanging off one another or noisy chatter. It was actually quite peaceful for a Saturday evening. Of course, it did take thirty minutes to get to and halfway there, Thorne thought Kai must have been pranking him. But when he pulled into the parking lot of the tiny pizza shop, he saw Kai and Cinder standing outside, waiting for him.

"Hi Thorne, glad you found it okay," Kai greeted him as he held the door open for them.

"Yeah. It wasn't too bad," Thorne replied, ducking inside.

Thorne followed Cinder past tables with families and dates, towards the back where a round table with a reserved sign sat. She and Kai began to sit down when a small middle-aged woman walked up to them, a bright, warm smile spread across her face.

"You're finally here! Where's Ze'ev and Scarlet?" she asked as she hugged both Cinder and Kai and gave them kisses on their cheeks.

"They'll be here any minute."

"And how did we do?"

Kai's eyes lit up. "We won of course! I mean, it was kind of scary there for a minute, but Wolf pulled it off with a last  _second_  conversion!"

The woman smiled and nodded approvingly, her eyes twinkling. She looked around the table. "Where's Crescent?"

"She had to go home and finish a paper, but she's really sorry she couldn't make it. She said to tell you hi and that she'll be here next week," Cinder answered.

The woman nodded again, her gaze finally falling on Thorne. He gulped. "Hi, I'm—um—Carswell Thorne, but everyone just calls me Thorne," he said, holding out his hand.

She smiled warmly at Thorne and took the offered hand. "Thorne, I'm Maha, Ze—Wolf's mom."

"He's Cress's friend," Kai clarified.

The woman turned to Kai, raising an eyebrow. "He's not your friend, too?"

Thorne saw Kai blush, but it wasn't necessary as he was blushing enough for the both of them. Thorne rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, but before Kai could answer, the tiny bell at the front tinkled indicating that someone had just walked in.

Wolf and Scarlet came in, arms wrapped around each other, eyes gazing into one another's. Thorne was impressed that they were able to make it to the back of the restaurant without running into anyone or anything, but he supposed they have had plenty of experience with that sort of thing. They were practically glued to each other's side and he couldn't remember a time when he didn't see one without the other. Thinking about it now made him wonder if he would ever have that with anyone. Cress's face crept up in his thoughts and he quickly stomped it out.

Wolf let go of Scarlet long enough to wrap his arms around his mom and picked the tiny woman off the ground. "Mom!"

Maha laughed and batted at his arm. "Put me down so I can get your pizzas started."

Wolf chuckled and put his mom down. She patted her hand against his cheek and turned to give Scarlet a warm embrace before hurrying off to the kitchen.

"Ze'ev! Get your friends some drinks!" she called out, and Thorne could have sworn he saw Wolf's ears turn slightly pink.

Wolf went around the table taking their drink orders, until his gaze fell upon Thorne. He raised an eyebrow as if he had just noticed Thorne for the first time, which was probably the truth.

"Um—ginger ale?"

Wolf eyed Thorne for a heartbeat and walked off to get the drinks. Thorne tugged at his shirt collar.

Cinder snickered next to him. "That's Cress's drink."

Thorne perked up. "Really?"

Smirking on the other side of him, Scarlet answered, "Yeah."

Thorne pondered what it meant that he and Cress had the same favorite soda when he realized that he was being a dork and it didn't mean anything. Wolf came back with a tray of drinks and passed them around before slipping into the seat next to Scarlet's. Kai couldn't hold in his excitement any longer.

He practically punched his friend in the arm and exclaimed, "That was amazing! A backflip! An honest-to-stars-backflip!"

Wolf grinned.

"So how much of a hard time did the team give you tonight?" Cinder asked, twirling her straw around in her cup.

Wolf shrugged. "Doesn't matter." He wrapped his arm around Scarlet again and pulled her close to kiss her cheek.

Scarlet blushed.

Thorne looked down at his drink.

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Enough with the PDA," she groaned.

Kai laughed and reached over to give Cinder a big wet kiss on the cheek. She pushed him away and wiped her face with a napkin, but laughed along with the group.

As they waited for their pizza, they began talking about highlights of game and Wolf filled them in on the drama down on the field. Thorne was surprised to hear about all the trash-talk that went on and even more surprised about how good-natured Wolf was about it. Thorne was also surprised to hear that they, being Cress, Cinder, Kai, Scarlet, and Wolf, always came to the pizza parlor after every game to celebrate, win or lose.

"You don't hang out with the team after the game?" Thorne asked curiously. All their eyes shifted to him and he shrunk in his seat just a little.

"Nah," Wolf replied. "Everyone always goes to Carter's, but that's not our scene. We used to get crap about it, but who cares what they think."

Scarlet laughed when Thorne looked at them incredulously. "Wolf likes to play football and I like to cheer him on, but we don't normally hang out with them. Don't get met wrong, some of them are really nice people. Kinney is pretty cool and Winter, do you know her? She's great. Oh the whole though, we prefer the company here."

"And the pizza," Wolf added.

As if on cue, Maha brought out two piping hot pizzas and placed them on the stands in the middle of the table. They all began to move as if performing the steps to a choreographed dance they had perfected long ago. Kai passed out the plates that were stacked in front of him, Cinder made sure everyone had enough napkins, Scarlet doled out the slices, and Wolf refilled everyone's drinks. Scarlet nudged Thorne and told him that since Cress wasn't here he'd have to take over her duties of passing along the red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese.

Amused, Thorne couldn't help but smile as he slid the condiment jars back and forth as needed. This must be what it was like to have friends, best friends, and he wondered if this was the reason why Cress seemed so happy all the time. He certainly was beginning to understand why they were always around each other. One of them was always telling a joke or a story that made the others laugh and everyone always contributed. Thorne even felt bold enough to share some of the funnier stories about the places he had lived when he was younger. His dad was in the military and they had to move around a lot. That coupled with Thorne's shyness meant he never actually had any friends and now that he was sitting around a table of people who had been friends since the first grade, he never wanted to fit in more.

Kai found the story about the fried tarantulas in a Cambodian restaurant particularly funny while Wolf looked like he was about to throw up, which made the rest of the table laugh hysterically. Eager to change the subject, Wolf brought up Cress.

"So, how did the tater-tot's date go last night?"

Thorne could feel the heat rising up his neck and hoped it would stay off his cheeks. He kept his eyes down as he fiddled with the corner of his napkin, not wanting to look at any of them or rather not wanting any of them to look at him. He wondered if they all knew about his massive crush on Cress. Technically, no one knew because he would never admit it to anyone, but he assumed that all of his want and longing was plastered on his face whenever she walked by. He had hoped that he was invisible enough that no one paid any attention, but if the people sitting around this table could see it, could Cress have seen it too? The thought filled him with dread—how pathetic she must think he was—and he couldn't help but rub the back of his neck out of nervousness again.

"Not so great, but she's breaking up with him," Cinder replied, shrugging.

"Poor, Cress," Wolf said, pushing a hand through his already unruly hair.

"Hey!" Kai added, eager to end the quietness around the table. "This is Cress we're talking about. Heart-breaker of men. She's going to be fine. It's not the first time this has happened, and it won't be … the … last …"

Kai's sentence trailed off when Thorne ventured to look up and their gaze snagged on each other's briefly. Thorne had to hold every muscle in his body to keep from wincing. His eyes flickered back down to his napkin, but he was acutely aware that they were all looking at him. Or at least, eyeing each other and throwing sympathy glances his way. He cleared his throat and stood up abruptly, making both Cinder and Scarlet jump in their seats.

"I'm sorry. I—uh—have to go." He gestured to his watch, hoping they would assume he had somewhere to be, or that it was late and he needed to get home. He pulled out his wallet.

Wolf held up his hands. "Hey, it's okay. You don't have to do that."

Thorne nodded in acknowledgement, but still didn't make eye contact with any of them. "No, I insist. Thanks for inviting me." He placed a twenty dollar bill on the table and turned to leave.

Cinder managed to catch his eye for a brief second before he walked out the door.

Thorne climbed into his car and his heart hitched as he saw Cress's scarf lying in the passenger seat, faint notes of roses lingering in the air. He groaned, dragging both hands down his face.

 


	5. Chapter 5

All day on Sunday Thorne had tried to avoid thinking about Cress. He knew that she had every intention of breaking up with Julian; even Cinder had said so, but he couldn't keep that nagging feeling away from the pit of his stomach. What if she had changed her mind? What if she never got to it because Julian had kissed her and they ended up in a hardcore make out session instead? Or worse yet, what if she tried to break up with him and he didn't take it well? Julian didn't seem the type of guy who was good at handling rejection.

No, Cress was able to handle herself. What did Kai say? She did this all the time.  _She was a heart-breaker of men._  Thorne's own heart clenched at the thought.

Thorne slumped onto his bed. All of these thoughts were driving him crazy. He needed to get out of the house, take his mind off of things. He decided that he would go to the lake with the schooner. After all, The Rampion still had not had a proper maiden voyage.

Thorne drove to the park with the windows down, letting the crisp autumn air tussle his hair and he felt increasingly better. By the time he pulled into the parking lot, however, the same queasy feeling he had felt in his stomach all morning returned tenfold. The last time he was at the lake with The Rampion, he had only sailed it for five minutes while drinking a bottle of cider alone and feeling sorry for himself.

Leaving his jeep parked in the lot, he made his way across the street towards the main square. He decided he would feel better if he just got some fresh air into his system. There were surprisingly few people in the town square even for an early Sunday evening, but Thorne preferred it that way. He walked along the shop-lined streets and meandered down the sidewalk. He was starting to feel much better when a window display caught his eye.

The setting sun lit the window of the bookshop. Inside, there were countless strips of ribbon coming down from the ceiling, their ends twisted together and swept towards a large tower of books. Upon further inspection, Thorne realized that the books displayed were stacked on top of each other, narrow at the bottom and flaring up at the top. It looked like a hot air balloon as the different colored book spines made up the vertical stripes of the balloon. Below the hot air balloon was a mosaic field of blue book covers with clusters of white books sitting on top. Thorne smirked to himself.

He pushed his way through the door of the shop, a bell sounded as he entered.

"Just one minute!" A disembodied voice called from the back.

Thorne stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he inspected the window display, not wanting to accidentally touch anything and send the whole scene toppling down.

"It's a hot air balloon." A voice spoke up from behind Thorne. This voice was the same that had called out from the back earlier, but it startled him now that it was so close.

Thorne turned around to see a pretty girl with dark brown hair and warm, brown eyes. She looked familiar and judging by her age, he realized she must go to East Commons High School.

The girl smiled at him and held up a woven basket with a spool of ribbon acting as a bangle on her wrist. "If you don't mind …" she said, gesturing to the display with her hands full.

"Of course." Thorne stepped back to let her pass. He watched as she placed the basket below the ballooning tower of books, positioning it just right. "Uh—do you need a hand with that?"

The girl looked over her shoulder at Thorne and smiled. "Sure." She handed Thorne the spool of ribbon. "Here, hold this."

Thorne took the spool and held it out to her as she snipped lengths of ribbon with a pair of scissors she pulled from her back pocket.

"I'm Thorne, by the way," Thorne said, introducing himself.

The girl looked up from her task and her eyes flashed, a grin spreading across her face. "Yeah, I know. We have English together."

Thorne rubbed the back of his neck nervously with his free hand, feeling the heat rise up on his skin. "Sorry. I don't usually—I mean, I—"

The girl patted his hand reassuringly. "It's okay. I'm Kate."

"Hi Kate."

Kate smiled, but kept her attention on her task. When she had cut enough lengths of ribbon, she began tying them to the display; one end to the basket, the other to a wire rig at the bottom of the book tower that Thorne could see now that he was closer.

"This is a really impressive set up you have."

Kate's eyes twinkled when she looked up at him. "Thanks! I made it myself. You really like it?"

Thorne nodded, but realized she couldn't see him while she was busy with the ribbon. "Definitely. I came inside just to get a better look."

Kate let out an audible laugh. "Then my work here is done." She finished tying the last of the ribbon and hopped off the ledge of the display, pocketing the scissors and sliding the spool of ribbon back onto her arm. "So now that you're here, can I interest you in a bit of light reading? Or heavy reading? Or if you don't like reading, we have a great selection of picture books."

Thorne was taken aback by Kate's enthusiasm. He rubbed the back of his neck again and decided to tell her he should be leaving when a thought occurred. "Do you have any Keats?"

Kate eyed him for what felt like a full minute before nodding and led him to the poetry section of the shop. She pointed to the K's and leaned against one of the shelves as Thorne read the spines, looking for Keats.

"Are you a poetry reader?" She asked him.

"No, but I thought maybe I would start."

"With Keats?"

Thorne finally looked at Kate. "What's wrong with Keats?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. He's just a bit flowery for my liking. But hey, maybe you like flowers."

Thorne immediately thought about Cress and how she smelled of roses. He tried to hide his smile. "You don't?"

Kate shrugged. "I prefer things that are precise and concrete. Like, architecture."

Thorne nodded as he pulled a copy of the Complete Poems of John Keats—the same one sitting on Cress's lap the day he showed her The Rampion—off the shelf and thumbed through it.

"Is that the winner?" Kate asked.

Thorne nodded again and followed Kate to the front counter to pay for the book. As she slipped the book into a brown paper bag, Thorne looked back towards the window display. It really was impressive. Kate handed him the book and he finally had the courage to speak up.

"You know, it looks like maybe you like flowers too," he said, pointing to all the ribbon hanging from the ceiling.

Kate laughed and waved him off. "See you around Thorne."

He waved goodbye and made his way back to his car.

* * *

Monday morning, Thorne stood at his locker, stuffing books into his backpack. He was just finishing up when someone came up and leaned against the lockers next to his, their face obscured by Thorne's door.

"I hope you're satisfied," came the voice.

Thorne closed the door of his locker and found Julian's steely grey eyes boring into him.

"W—what?" Thorne asked, surprised. He looked around to make sure Julian was talking to him, but knew he must have been because of the cold stare he was giving Thorne now.

"I hope you're happy—" Julian's voice was strained and Thorne could almost hear the guy gritting his teeth "—now that Cress and I are no longer dating."

Thorne took a step back. Julian's proximity to him was unnerving. "I don't know what you're talking about. Cress and I are just … friends." He wasn't sure he could even call her that.

Julian scoffed, scowling at a spot on the floor.

As much as it pained Thorne to say, he knew the words coming out of his mouth were true. "Nothing is going on between us."

Julian looked up, but instead of meeting Thorne's eyes, his gaze fell past him down the corridor. Thorne looked back to see Cress walking down the hallway with her friends.

Julian turned his eyes to Thorne and shrugged. "Whatever you say. She's not even that good in the sack. I was just looking for a hot piece of a—"

A hot surge of anger shot up Thorne's spine and he dropped his backpack before lunging at Julian. Putting all of his weight into the movement, he managed to connect his fist with Julian's jaw. He heard a crack as pain shot through his hand and vibrated up his arm. He knew instantly that he had broken something.

Julian managed to put some distance between them while Thorne stumbled back, clutching his hand to his own chest. Before Thorne could even catch his breath, Julian lurched forward and his fist landed a blow against the side of Thorne's face. His head snapped back and his body ached more from the strain on his neck than the impact of Julian's fist against his eye. Thorne leaned against the stone wall of the corridor for relief, but was surprised when Julian attacked him again, this time aiming his blows against Thorne's midsection.

Someone yelled and footsteps came running, but it all sounded too far away to be of any help to Thorne at the moment. Thorne felt like he was going to pass out from the lack of oxygen to his lungs and the incessant pounding on his abdomen when Julian's punches halted as abruptly as it had started.

Thorne looked up to see that Wolf and Kai had Julian sandwiched between them, holding him back by the arms. Cress rushed over to Thorne who was now doubled over and gasping for air. He was secretly glad that he had skipped breakfast that morning. It was humiliating enough that Cress saw Julian using Thorne as a punching bag; he didn't want her to see him throw up as well.

Cress took Thorne's face into her hands and pulled his head up so she could inspect him. All of the pain in his body stopped momentarily when he saw the concern etched in her mesmerizing blue eyes. Then his stomach plummeted and he visibly winced when Cress's eyes flashed with anger. An apology began forming in his mouth before Cress dropped her hands from Thorne's face and spun on her heels. She marched towards Julian, who was still in the clutches of her friends.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" she yelled and stomped on his foot.

Julian howled as Cress's heel connected with his toes. Even though the pain caused him to lean forward, he was still too tall for Cress to punch in the face so she settled for landing a punch squarely in his stomach. Wolf let go of Julian and wrapped his arms around Cress's waist, pulling her away from the groaning boy.

All of the yelling had probably echoed down the halls because there was a crowd around them now and Thorne was mortified. Principal Vargas pushed through the throng of students and eyed Thorne, Julian, Kai, Wolf, and Cress all in turn.

"All of you. My office. Now."

Wolf hesitated for a brief moment before he let go of Cress and she stepped forward. "Principle Vargas, Thorne needs to go to the nurse."

The tall, stern man eyed Thorne, who was still doubled over in pain, and nodded curtly.

"I can take him," Cress volunteered.

"No, Miss Darnel. You need to come to my office."

Cinder and Scarlet, who up until then had stayed motionless, passed a look between each other before stepping forward. They each eased a shoulder under one of Thorne's armpits as support.

"We'll take him to the nurse," Cinder said as she place a hand on Thorne's chest, steadying him.

"Thank you, Miss Linh, Miss Benoit. Now, the rest of you get to class."

The crowd shuffled to their first period class as two of the most popular girls in school helped Thorne limp towards the nurse's office.

* * *

Nurse Nainsi clucked her tongue at Thorne as she examined him. He winced as she poked and prodded and yelped in pain as she took his hand into hers. She clucked some more.

"You may have two broken fingers, Carswell," she said to him as she eyed him over her spectacles.

Thorne nodded in acknowledgement.

"You're going to have to go to the hospital. You're also going to have to talk to Principal Vargas. I can call your parents to pick you up and you can come back to school to speak with him after you're done."

"I'd rather just get it over with Principal Vargas now," Thorne mumbled.

"You need x-rays and if your fingers are broken, the longer you wait the more risk of them not healing properly." Nurse Nainsi eyed him, but gave in when he gave her a pleading look. She continued to cluck her tongue, but taped up his hand and gave him two ice packs, one for his hand, the other for his eye where a bruise was already starting to bloom.

Thorne was surprised to see that the principal's office was empty when he got there. He was called into the cramped office immediately and took a seat in one of the worn leather chairs across from Vargas's desk.

"Mr. Thorne, I have heard what Mr.'s Chase, Kesley, and Prince and Miss Darnel had to say regarding this morning's events. Can you please tell me what happened?" Principal Vargas's voice was stern, but tired.

"I attacked Julian. He retaliated. Wolf and Kai stepped in to intervene," Thorne answered, voice so even it surprised himself.

"And Miss Darnel?" Vargas asked.

Thorne shrugged, not making eye contact.

"I showed up just in time to see Miss Darnel physically assault Mr. Chase."

Thorne's head shot up. "She was—he—he said unsavory things about her, sir."

"I see." Principal Vargas templed his fingers against his lips. "As you know, Mr. Thorne, as laid out in the student handbook, we have a zero tolerance policy for any violence on school grounds. You, Mr. Chase, and Miss Darnel are suspended from school for the next week."

Thorne gaped at him. He didn't know where the anger came from, maybe it was finally boiling over from the fight that morning, but it caused Thorne to have an outburst in front of the principal. "A week?! Even Julian? When he used me as a punching bag?"

Principal Vargas looked sternly at Thorne. "From what I saw of Mr. Chase, I'd say you got a punch in yourself." His eyes flickered from the ice pack that was pressed against Thorne's face to the one sitting on top of Thorne's hand. "Now please, go have that hand looked at by a doctor."

Thorne thought he saw sympathy in Vargas's eyes before the man stood up and opened the door. He wanted to argue for a longer sentence for Julian or at least a shorter one for himself and Cress, but when Principal Vargas started tapping his finger on the doorknob, he had no choice but to get up and leave. He made his way down the corridor, fuming, and kicked open the double doors to let himself out. He began to march towards the parking lot, wondering if he could just drive himself to the emergency room when he heard a soft voice behind him. He turned around to see Cress holding his backpack.

She rushed over, but stopped short of placing a hand on him. "Are you okay?" she asked, voice laced with concern as she searched his face.

Anger was still rolling off of him and he was only able to manage a nod.

Cress bit her lip. "Why were you fighting with Julian?"

"Because he's a jerk," Thorne spat.

Cress flinched and he instantly felt sorry for taking his anger out on her.

"What happened? We saw you down the hall. You punched him."

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Thorne's body was still vibrating with irritation and he was glad Cress didn't push any further.

She looked down at his hand and shook her head. "You need to see a doctor. I'll take you."

Before Thorne could decline her offer, she was already making her way towards the parking lot with his backpack still in her hands. Thorne found it easy to catch up to her and soon he was following in step. They stopped at a blue Mustang and Thorne tried to raise an eyebrow before flinching from the discomfort. Cress smiled and shrugged as she opened the passenger side door for him.

Even though Thorne was strapped in by his seatbelt, he was regretting having an injured hand for the mere fact that he wasn't able to use both hands to grasp the seat and dashboard while Cress made sharp turns well over a reasonable speed limit. She wasn't a bad driver, but she didn't always adhere to common rules of the road and she definitely had a lead foot. The thought of her stomping on Julian's foot came back to him and he let out a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Cress asked as she pulled into the parking lot of a strip center.

"Nothing. Where are we? I thought you were taking me to the emergency room."

"Nah. I've done you one better." She cut the engine and rushed over to open the door for him. "I'm taking you to see my dad!"


	6. Chapter 6

Dr. Darnel eyed Thorne with the same intense blue eyes as Cress's, but his weren't mesmerizing like hers. Instead, his were full of an intense scrutiny that Thorne was afraid was meant for him alone. He gulped as the doctor examined his injured hand and winced at every little bit of movement.

Thorne felt Cress slip her hand into his uninjured one and give him a reassuring squeeze. He instantly thought that she had magical healing powers because he felt a warmth wash over him and his body went numb except for the rapid beating of his heart. The pounding was so intense that he could hardly hear Dr. Darnel speak.

"I want to get some x-rays to see the full extent of the fractures. You'll more than likely have to wear a splint for six weeks, but you're going to be fine Mr. Thorne."

"Th-thank you, sir," Thorne replied, glad that there wasn't going to be any permanent damage.

Dr. Darnel rolled back in his wheeled stool and comm'd one of the nurses before turning back to Thorne.

"Fateen will come get you for your x-rays," he said. Turning to Cress, he added, "And Crescent will stay here so we can have a little chat."

Cress squeaked as she let go of Thorne's hand. "Yes, Papa."

Someone knocked on the door to the examination room and a young woman wearing scrubs stepped in to lead Thorne away. He glanced back at Cress before the door closed on him but she didn't meet his eyes.

The x-rays were painless and only took five minutes, but when he was done, Fateen didn't lead Thorne back to his original examination room. Instead, he was led to one further down the hall and as he sat on the table, paper crinkling underneath him, he wondered how much trouble Cress was going to be in. He ran his uninjured hand down his face and wondered how much trouble  _he_  was going to be in.

He had never gotten so much as a tardy note before and now he was suspended for a whole week. The thought of it made him shake and he was racking his brain to see who he could call or email to get class assignments from. The truth was, he didn't have anyone he could call, and he resigned himself to emailing all of his teachers. He felt pathetic.

Suddenly feeling lightheaded, Thorne lay down on the examination table, but let his eyes roam the room. Thorne was impressed to see how fancy Dr. Darnel's offices were. There were granite countertops in each examination room, and plush carpet in the corridors. The waiting room was fitted with leather lounge chairs and throw pillows. The examination rooms even had soft spa-like music piped in through the speakers in the ceiling.

Thorne almost drifted to sleep when a knock on the door announced the arrival of Dr. Darnel with Thorne's x-rays in his hands. He clipped them to the light panel on the wall and pointed out the jagged lines on the x-rays of Thorne's fingers, indicating where his fractures were.

"You're lucky it was a clean break," Dr. Darnel said, eyeing him, "but tell me Mr. Thorne, how does a young man like you get caught in a brawl and how does my daughter get involved?"

Thorne hesitated. He didn't want to tell anyone what had happened, especially Cress's father, but he also didn't want Dr. Darnel to think he was some sort of hooligan who got into trouble all the time. He wanted Dr. Darnel to like him, to be impressed with him, but he knew all of those hopes had flown out the window. What would the doctor think of Thorne if the first time they met was because Thorne had gotten into a fist fight?

Dr. Darnel busied himself with pulling supplies out of various drawers and cupboards. Thorne had hoped that the doctor had forgotten about his question, but when he turned around to face Thorne, those piercing blue eyes met his and Thorne felt queasy. What could he possibly say to Dr. Darnel to ease the situation? If he refused to tell him what happened, the doctor would think he was insubordinate. If Thorne confessed the real reason why he had punched Julian … no, he didn't think he could bring himself to tell Cress's dad what Julian had said about her. He could have gone a lifetime without hearing it himself.

Dr. Darnel didn't wait for Thorne's answer before sitting down on the wheeled stool and beginning his ministrations on Thorne's hand. He grimaced a few times when his fingers shifted under the doctor's touch, but remained silent otherwise. The doctor was just as quiet as Thorne and he could almost hear a ringing in his ear because of the dense silence. He had not realized the music streaming into the examination room had stopped, but figured the doctor had turned it off when he entered the room.

"You know," Dr. Darnel said suddenly, making Thorne jump and wince from the movement. "Getting into fist fights isn't exactly a habit that nice young men should form."

Thorne could feel the heat rising up his neck as Dr. Darnel shifted his gaze from Thorne's hand to look him squarely in the eyes before returning to his task.

"But, sometimes we have to do what we have to do to protect a pretty girl." Dr. Darnel snipped the end of tape hanging from Thorne's splinted fingers and gathered up his supplies.

Thorne wondered how the doctor knew. Did Cress know?

"And sometimes you break your fingers while the pretty girl protects herself," Thorne mumbled. He bit his lip, not realizing he had spoken out loud.

Dr. Darnel chuckled as he scribbled something onto a pad and Thorne's shoulders sagged with relief.

"Here's a prescription for some pain killers if you feel the need to take them. Cress can take you home now." He pressed a fresh ice pack into Thorne's hand. "For your eye."

"Th-thank you, sir," Thorne said as he stood up. Maybe he was in too much pain before, or he had been too nervous when he'd been sitting next to Cress in front of her father, but now that he was looking at Dr. Darnel standing in front of him, he noticed that the doctor couldn't have been much taller than Cress herself. Thorne was impressed that such a small man could be so intimidating to him, but then again Cress terrified him too and she was a tiny girl.

Cress's eyes lit up when Thorne stepped into the waiting room. He pocketed the prescription that Dr. Darnel had given him and held the ice pack awkwardly in his hand. Cress stood up as he walked towards her and he held up his hand to show off her dad's handiwork.

"Aww. Too bad you didn't get a cast. I could have signed it." She winked. "My dad says I can take you home, if you need a ride."

"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks."

Cress saluted him before pushing the door open and they stepped into the sunshine.

* * *

The car ride to Thorne's house made him just as nervous as the ride to Dr. Darnel's office. He found himself grasping his own seatbelt more than once to make sure he was securely buckled in. Even so, when he looked over at Cress, Thorne couldn't help but smile at her undivided attention to the road. Thorne fiddled with the radio until he landed on the classical station. Only then did Cress's eyes stray towards him. She looked at him incredulously and laughed when she saw the earnestness on his face.

"What? I like Wagner," Thorne said, as the trombones to "Ride of the Valkyries" came out through Cress's speakers.

Cress threw her head back in laughter and grinned at him. "I like Bugs Bunny."

Thorne chuckled and they listened to Wagner as Cress drove him home.

Ten minutes later, Cress pulled in front of Thorne's house. He looked at it, dreading the thought of telling his parents about his broken fingers and the suspension. He thanked Cress for the ride home before unbuckling his seatbelt and turning to open the door.

"Thorne?" There was an uneasiness to Cress's voice that Thorne had never heard before.

He sank back into his seat. "Yeah?"

"What happened this morning?"

Thorne gulped as Cress's eyes bored into his. "Nothing."

Cress scrunched up her nose and she would have looked adorable if it weren't for the electricity buzzing behind those eyes.

Thorne sighed. "Julian came to talk to me. He was really upset that you broke up with him. He—he thought it was my fault."

Cress snorted, unable to hide a laugh. "What an idiot. I mean Julian—not you, obviously."

Thorne nodded.

"But you punched him."

Thorne nodded again. "He—uh—insulted your—virtue." Thorne fiddled with the ice pack in his hand.

Cress let out a hearty laugh and slapped her steering wheel. "If we're going to beat up everyone who does that, we'd be suspended until graduation."

Thorne was surprised to see her being so cavalier about the whole situation. It made his heart ache to think that this wasn't the first time someone had said something nasty about her and who was there to defend her all those other times? He hoped that Wolf had beaten every one of those naysayers to a pulp, but seeing her reaction to Julian, maybe Cress fought her own battles. Then again, the fact that she was so unperturbed by it made him realize that she probably just let people say whatever they wanted to say.

"Doesn't it bother you?" Thorne asked, a tinge of despair in his voice.

"Does it bother you?"

"Yes," Thorne replied immediately, "I would fight anyone to defend your honor." He bit his lip, thinking he had sounded too eager; said too much.

Cress looked at him for what felt like an eternity until she finally tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. "Me too."

Thorne couldn't help but feel a spike in his body temperature at her smile. This one was one he had never experienced before. This one seemed almost shy. He began to wonder if she meant she would fight someone to protect her own honor or his. After all, she  _had_  fought someone for him and the thought of it made his stomach flutter. He tilted his head back against the headrest. He wanted to tell her it didn't matter what Julian or anyone said, that he loved her no matter what and he didn't believe any of it was true anyway. He didn't care, even if it were true. She was the most amazing girl he'd ever met and the events of today only cemented his feelings. But how could he say those things to her? Especially now. He couldn't even defend her honor without needing to be rescued himself. He wasn't a hero and people who weren't heroes didn't get the girl.

"I should get going," Thorne said, finally looking at Cress. "I have to go email all my teachers for class assignments."

"Oh! Don't worry about it. Scarlet and Cinder are taking care of it."

Thorne looked at her, confused, and she laughed. The sound reminded him of that day at the lake when he had shown her The Rampion—a tinkle of amusement—and Thorne's pulse quickened to know he could make her laugh like that.

"They have to get my assignments for me anyway so they're getting yours too. I can email you tonight if you want. Or … we can meet at the library tomorrow and work on them together?"

Thorne had not realized he was staring at her until she shifted uneasily.

"Or not—no big deal."

"I—I'd like that," he finally replied.

A broad smile spread across Cress's face and Thorne was surprised to see relief in her eyes. "Great! I'll text you tonight—except—er—I don't have your number."

Before Thorne could react, she grabbed his hand and a pen that was sticking out from one of the cup holders between them. She scribbled her phone number onto his bare skin. "Okay, now you can text me."

Thorne looked at the writing on the back of his hand and nodded. "Th—thanks for taking me to the doctor and giving me a ride home," he said, getting out of the car.

"Anytime. Thanks for defending my honor."

Thorne grinned. The tingling in his hand that he had gotten when Cress was holding it lingered and he felt bold. "Anytime."


	7. Chapter 7

As Thorne pulled into the public library's parking lot, butterflies began to flutter around in the pit of his stomach. He had received a total of three text messages from Cress the night before, making arrangements to meet that morning, and they had filled him with so much elation that even facing his parents to tell them about his suspension and his fractured fingers couldn't keep him down. In the end, he thought he had actually gotten off rather easily, maybe too easily.

He was sure they were going to ground him for the entire week and take away his car, but when he had finished telling them about the fight, the suspension, and the trip to Dr. Darnel's office, Elena Thorne pushed herself away from the kitchen table and walked around to cup her son's face into her hands. His mom searched his eyes and instead of anger and disappointment like he was expecting, Thorne only saw concern.

Finally satisfied, she brushed Thorne's hair away from his face and started muttering in Spanish as she began to busy herself making pozole. It was his grandmother's secret recipe and he had always felt better after eating it, but when he tried to tell his mom he wasn't actually sick, she batted him away and muttered some more things in Spanish and more rapidly.

His dad remained silent through the whole ordeal and when he suggested that he take Thorne over to the school to pick up his car while the soup was being made, a dread began to fill Thorne's stomach. He wasn't prepared for a one-on-one talk with his dad about what transpired that morning, but mostly he was afraid his dad would tell him he was disappointed in Thorne and that would hurt more than any physical injuries he had sustained.

The silence was almost unbearable, but Thorne didn't dare reach for the radio controls. He wasn't sure if he was expected to say something. When he opened his mouth to apologize and offer up some sort of self-inflicted punishment, his dad finally spoke up.

"Did you do this over a girl?"

Thorne hesitated, but he knew he simply couldn't keep quiet like he had at Dr. Darnel's office. Thorne looked over to his dad. "Yes, sir."

"Do you like this girl?"

Thorne let out an unexpected snort of laughter, but when his dad's expression stayed motionless, Thorne looked down at his splint. "She's smart and she's funny. She's the most popular girl in school and she's nice to me." He sighed. "She's the most beautiful girl in the world and I … I …" He sighed again, unable to say the words out loud.

Feeling embarrassed at his confession, Thorne kept his eyes down on his fidgeting fingers. He was startled when a firm hand came down on his shoulder and he looked up to see Kingsley Thorne, eyes still on the road, but with a smirk spread across his face.

Now, Thorne was sitting in his Jeep, staring at himself in the mirror of his sun visor. He was inspecting his eye, which had turned to a blue and purple mess. It didn't hurt so much anymore, but he still winced when he caught his reflection, more out of surprise than anything. To his complete and utter shock, the pozole did make him feel better, but he wondered if it wasn't just his elation that he would be spending the better part of the day with Cress.

The phone in the passenger seat buzzed, startling him. His face lit up uncontrollably when he saw that it was Cress. When he entered her name into his contact list the evening before, he had to resist the urge to type in little pink heart emojis around it. If she ever saw it, he would probably die from embarrassment and since Cress had a knack for showing up when he least expected it, he didn't want to run the risk.

_Be there in five minutes. Stay in your car._

He leaned his head back onto his headrest, closed his eyes and wondered what reason she could possibly have for him not going inside. She hadn't changed her mind. Maybe she wanted her scarf back. Thorne groaned. That must have been it, and he, being the the idiot that he was, hadn't brought it with him. He had every intention of returning it to her, but he had brought it inside the house with him after dinner with her friends and simply forgotten about it. If he was being honest with himself, he liked how the faint hint of roses tickled his nose whenever he walked by the scarf which had ended up draped over the back of his desk chair.

He chewed on his bottom lip. Maybe he could invite her over later so she could pick it up. No, his mom would be home and he definitely did not need his mom giving Cress meaningful glances. He was sure his dad had filled her in on their conversation in the car. Maybe he could suggest that they study again tomorrow, but he was getting ahead of himself. What if Cress found out that he was just a boring nerd and regretted being nice to him? The thought hadn't occurred to him until then. He had been too busy switching between anxiety and jubilation at the thought of spending all day with the girl of his dreams. He hadn't even consider what he should do—needed to do—to impress her.

A tap on his window jerked him from his thoughts and he looked over to see Cress staring at him, her lips pressed into a half-grin that highlighted the dimple in her right cheek. Thorne rolled down the window.

"Did you get enough sleep last night?" she asked, still smirking.

Thorne looked bashfully at her. "I was just thinking."

She nodded, holding up two paper cups. "No matter, I got us coffee anyways. Cinnamon latte or peppermint mocha?"

"Cinnamon latte."

"Good. I didn't get us peppermint mochas. It was a test and you passed." Cress grinned, handing Thorne one of the paper cups.

He laughed, taking the coffee. He saw that her eyes lingered on his face, probably examining his black eye. He shrugged. "It looks much worst that it feels."

Cress nodded. "I'm really sorry about what happened. I don't know why Julian—I—I'm so—"

"It's not your fault," Thorne interrupted.

She nodded again, although he could tell she wanted to say more. He was about to get out of the car when her voice stopped him.

"It's such a nice day today. I thought we could go to the park instead of being cooped up in the library. What do you think?"

Thorne hesitated. While he would like nothing more than to spend the day at the park with Cress, they were suspended, and they had come to the library to get schoolwork done. He didn't think it felt right that he should be enjoying a beautiful day outside.

Cress laughed. "I promise we'll get our work done. I even have your assignments  _typed_  up." She pulled out a sheet of paper from the bag slung across her shoulder and sure enough, Carswell Thorne was typed in bold letters at the top of the well organized list. She laughed again at the look on his face. "Cinder has terrible handwriting. I was doing you a favor."

"Okay," Thorne conceded.

Satisfied, Cress rocked back onto her heels. "I can drive or—"

"It's okay. I can do it."

Cress bit back a laugh and raised an eyebrow at him, but made her way over to his passenger side seat. Thorne felt slightly bad for cutting her off, but there were hot beverages involved and he didn't think they would have survived a ride in her car, although, he did recognize that they seemed to have made it to the library unscathed.

Cress looked around while she buckled herself in. "Is this your car?"

"Yeah, why?"

She smiled smugly. "I didn't know you had a Male Lead car."

"A what?"

"A Male Lead car." When Thorne looked at her, baffled, she pressed on. "You know, in all those high school movies, the cool male character always has a Jeep."

"He does?"

Cress nodded, taking a sip of her coffee. "Either that or a retro muscle car."

"Like a blue Mustang?"

She wiggled her eyebrows at him. "Exactly."

Thorne laughed. He wondered if she knew how adorable she was being right now. "I don't know. I don't think I would make a very good male lead. No one would want to watch that movie."

Cress scoffed. "Of course they would."

Thorne simply shook his head as he started up the car.

"It's true," she insisted. "I'm an expert in these things."

She sipped on her coffee as Thorne laughed and pulled out of the library's parking lot.

* * *

Thorne was absolutely right about being distracted at the park, but he suspected it was more from sitting directly across from Cress, rather than being outdoors—although, being outside undoubtedly added to his dilemma. The sunshine lit Cress's hair, turning it into a golden halo. She had pulled it into a fishtail braid and draped it over her shoulder. Thorne liked how she fiddled with the tail end while she read. Every now and then a breeze would pick up and send loose tresses dancing across her cheeks and she'd bite her lip while tucking them back behind her ear.

When the late morning sun rose above their heads and the temperature climbed, Cress removed her cardigan, revealing a white, cotton, eyelet tank top and Thorne couldn't keep his eyes from flickering to her bare shoulders dusted with freckles. He must have re-read the same paragraph in his history book for the fifth time before giving up completely. Cress must have given up on her homework too because she threw her hands up into the air in exasperation.

"This is so  _frustrating_." Cress growled as she threw her pencil down on the weathered table and bench the two of them had claimed at the park.

Thorne watched as the pencil rolled past him and snatched it when it tumbled off the edge. He handed it back to her tentatively. She sighed before taking it from him.

"Thanks."

"What's wrong?"

"Math."

Thorne chuckled at her directness, but bit his lip when she scowled at him.

"I hate math, but my dad is making me take calculus." She made a face that looked more like Dr. Darnel was making her wander alone in the desert. "Joke's on him when I fail this class."

Thorne reached over and pulled the textbook towards him. His brow furrowed in concentration as his eyes shifted from the assignment to Cress's notebook.

"I can help you if you want."

"Really?" Cress hopped out of her seat eagerly and slid onto the bench beside him.

Thorne felt his skin break into goosebumps at her proximity and the smell of roses. He shook his head to concentrate. "Okay. Derivatives are instantaneous rates of change. In algebra, you learned that the rate of change from one point to another is the rise over run, or change in Y over change in X."

Cress nodded.

"Now, for derivatives, you want the change in X, or what we'll call variable  _h_ , to become infinitely small. That's why you take the limit, as  _h_  goes to zero, or  _f(a+h) - f(a)_  all over  _h_." Thorne wrote the equation out for her and when she leaned in close to see, he felt much more confident. "The numerator part of the fraction is the change in Y. The denominator is the change in X. And you take the limit because you want the change in X to be infinitely small. Get it?"

Cress bit her lip. "No."

Thorne let out a soft chuckle, but stopped when he realized Cress might have thought he was laughing at her. "Here, lets do one together." He walked her through the formula one more time and then walked her through the problem she was having such a hard time with, pointing out exactly where each variable of the equation needed to go. "Get it now?"

She scrunched up her face for a long time, but then nodded her head. Taking the notebook from him, she worked out the next problem.

"Exactly!" Thorne exclaimed.

Cress smiled and dipped her head down to finish up her homework. He checked on her progress every now and then and made corrections when needed, which wasn't very often.

"How are you so good at this?" Cress asked as she finished up the last equation.

"I like math."

Cress snorted, giving Thorne a pointed look.

"I do. Plus, I have to be good at it if I want to be an astronaut."

"You want to be an astronaut?" Cress's eyes were wide and bright.

Thorne rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "Eventually, but first I want to be an air force pilot."

Cress looked at him, speechless.

"My dad is in the Air Force. That's why we moved around so much. I don't know … I just never wanted to be anything else and I want to see the world. There's still so much of it that I haven't seen. But I figured, after that I could actually  _see the world_."

Cress tapped her pencil against her mouth and Thorne watched as the eraser bounced against her soft, pink lips. He assumed they were soft. They looked very soft. Then they broke into a smile.

"No wonder Kai was talking about Cambodia and tarantulas." Her laugh was like a tickle in Thorne's ear. "I think it's great that you know what you want to do with your life. I have a mountain of college applications and no direction. Maybe you can teach me some of those constellations so I can navigate myself."

Thorne smiled at the thought of taking Cress stargazing. "Anytime." He hesitated for only a beat. "I think you can do anything you want to do."

Cress smiled appreciatively at him. "If only I knew what that was."

Thorne wished he had something to say to that. He had always wanted to be an Air Force pilot like his father. He had never been so sure of anything in his entire life, except maybe his feelings for Cress. He couldn't imagine what it must feel like to not have a plan, but he thought some people preferred it that way. Up until then, he thought Cress was one of those people.

"Hey, I'm getting hungry. Wanna get lunch?" Cress asked, packing up her books.

"Sure," Thorne replied, standing up to stuff his books into his backpack.

They walked to a nearby shop to pick up sandwiches and ginger ales. Thorne laughed when Cress set down two clementines and a bar of chocolate on the counter. She simply smiled and shrugged. They made the quick trip back to the park, circling around to the lake and Thorne was happy to see that Cress led them to his bench. He supposed it was her bench too, and he wondered why he never ran into her before the day of The Rampion.

As they ate their lunch, Thorne couldn't help but notice Cress throwing glances his way.

"Do I have something on my face?"

"Yes, a big black eye."

"It's really okay," Thorne insisted.

"Did you get in a lot of trouble?"

"Surprisingly, none. What about you? Was your mom upset?"

Cress looked down at her half-eaten sandwich. "It's just me and my dad. My mom left when I was twelve."

"Oh." Thorne looked down at his hands and fiddled with the plastic label on his bottle of ginger ale.

Cress placed a hand on his and he stopped. "It's okay. It was a long time ago."

She squeezed his hand and he felt himself ease. He was half tempted to turn his palm so that he could hold her hand, but before he could muster up the courage to do so, she pulled away and finished up her sandwich. Thorne cleared his throat and looked out onto the lake.

"We should sail The Rampion sometime soon."

Thorne whipped his head around to look at Cress. "Really?"

She smiled. "Yeah! I feel like I've been a pretty bad first mate."

She handed him one of the clementines that she had peeled and he couldn't help but laugh as he took it from her.

"Are you bribing me?"

"With fruit? Of course not." Cress smiled devilishly. "That's what the chocolate is for."

 


	8. Chapter 8

Thorne drummed his fingers against his steering wheel as he pulled onto Cress's street. He couldn't believe his luck.

When their study date had ended, Thorne was sad to see Cress go. He had had such a wonderful day with her, and when he dropped her off at the library and was preparing to say goodbye, she had turned to him, smiling.

"Same time tomorrow? We can just meet at the park. I'll bring the coffees."

Speechless, Thorne simply nodded and watched as she got into her car and drove off.

They had spent the next two days together, mostly studying, but they had fallen into an ease of conversation that made Thorne feel like he was floating on a cloud the rest of his evenings. He did not feel the need to take any of Dr. Darnel's prescribed pain killers. They had even finished their work early on Thursday and spent the rest of the day at a matinee showing of _The Sound of Music_ that was playing at the old movie theatre on the main drag. Thorne was reluctant to go, but Cress had persuaded him and he found it highly amusing when she sang along to the songs. When Cress tried to hide the fact that she was brushing a tear away when Maria and the von Trapp children joined their dad in singing "Edelweiss," Thorne pretended to be busy with his Raisinets.

After the movie, they had gotten ice cream and Thorne had shown Cress the hot air balloon book display at the bookstore. Her eyes lit up and she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside to get a better look. Her hand had lingered in his and his chest felt like it could have burst into butterflies at any moment.

His heart had dropped to the pit of his stomach when Cress had mentioned that they wouldn't have to meet up on Friday. He knew it was too good to last, but he was expecting to spend another perfect day with her. Perhaps the last perfect day with her, but at least one more. The disappointment must have shown on his face because she reached over and placed a gentle hand on his arm. His fingers twitched.

"You're still going to the game, right?" she asked.

"The game?"

There was Cress's tinkling, amused laugh. "The football game."

"Oh." Thorne rubbed the back of his neck. "Are we even allowed? I mean, aren't we still suspended?"

Cress pondered the question before shrugging. "I don't know, but who's going to stop us? Are they going to have our pictures plastered on flyers saying 'Do Not Admit?'" Her smile turned mischievous. "Besides, if we get turned away we can just hang out in the parking lot and smoke cigarettes like the delinquents we are."

Thorne let out a bark of laughter and conceded.

"It's thirty minutes away at Kamin High. Do you want to ride together?"

Thorne couldn't keep the grin off his face. "Yeah."

* * *

Thorne checked his visor mirror one last time before taking a deep breath and getting out of his car. He took the time walking from his car to Cress's front door to calm his nerves and regulate his breathing. He wondered if this counted as a date and if it did, had the movie the afternoon before counted too? Maybe not, since Cress had paid for herself and treated him to the ice cream, but he was enough of a twenty-first century man to acknowledge that it didn't mean that wasn't a date.

He was beginning to think himself into circles and he shook his head to push the thoughts away. It didn't matter. He promised himself that if he ever got the chance to take Cress on a date, a real date, it would be the most romantic one he could muster up and a kiss at the end of the night would confirm that it had, in fact, been one.

He became a ball of nervous energy at the thought of kissing Cress. He climbed the four steps onto the porch in two easy strides and had to bounce on the balls of his feet a couple of times before ringing the doorbell.

Dr. Darnel's piercing blue eyes greeted him when the door opened. Thorne gulped.

"G—good evening, sir."

Dr. Darnel nodded. "Mr. Thorne. Looks like your eye is healing nicely. How about your hand?" His eyes flickered to Thorne's splint.

"Practically painless," Thorne replied, holding up his hand for the doctor to inspect.

Dr. Darnel nodded again, approvingly, and Thorne could tell he was just about to say something important before Cress bounded up.

"Hey Thorne. Ready to go?"

"Don't you want to invite Carswell inside?"

Cress rolled her eyes, but kissed her dad on the cheek nonetheless. "Goodbye, Papa."

"Goodbye, Dr. Darnel." Thorne said as Cress nudged him backwards and closed the door behind her.

"He didn't give you a hard time, did he?" Cress asked pulling on a teal cardigan over her orange East Commons High School t-shirt.

"No. He checked my hand, actually."

Cress nodded, satisfied that the doctor hadn't embarrassed her and smiled as Thorne opened the passenger side door. She picked up her scarf which Thorne had left, folded neatly, in the seat for her.

"Thanks for letting me borrow it. I'm sorry it took so long for me to get it back to you." Thorne instantly felt self-conscious.

Cress shook her head. "You should keep it."

"But I—"

Cress laughed. She pointed to the light blue t-shirt he was wearing. "That's a very nice color on you, and it brings out the blue in your eyes, but trust me." She unfurled the scarf and Thorne instinctively lowered his head so she could drape it over his shoulders. "You need this more than I do."

Thorne felt his pulse thumping in his head and he was sure his ears had turned bright red, but he wasn't sure if it was from her complimenting his eyes or from embarrassment of his second football fashion misstep. When Cress was situated in the passenger seat, Thorne closed the door for her and walked around to climb into his car. He absentmindedly rubbed his fingers against the orange and teal fringe of the scarf and wished it still smelled like Cress.

* * *

The thirty minute car ride flew by too quickly for Thorne and before he knew it, he was pulling into the stadium's parking lot and getting out of the car. He and Cress joined the crowd that was making their way towards the ticketing booths and he wondered if they really would get turned away. He bit his lip nervously and almost didn't register the fact that people were giving him odd looks as they said hi to Cress.

It turned out that Thorne was justified in his nervousness. As they were approaching the ticketing booths, they saw Julian at the front of one of lines. Even through the crowd, his voice was clear.

"What do you mean, there's a list? My suspension should be over!"

Cress pulled Thorne behind a group of band moms sorting through hat boxes and they watched as Julian angrily stalked away. Cress shook her head as she watched him get into his car and peel out of the parking lot. She snorted.

Thorne groaned. "I guess that's it. Do you—um—want to go to the movies? Or something?"

"No."

"Oh."

"We're getting inside."

"Oh?"

Cress's face was full of determination as she searched the crowd and the lines getting into the stadium. Thorne wasn't sure how she was going to pull this off, but he was pretty sure he wasn't going to be able to convince her to leave. He thought he should say something, try to persuade her it wasn't a big deal, but then a smile broke across her face, the most mischievous smile he'd ever seen on someone and if it had been on anyone else's face, Thorne would have been terrified. In all honesty, he was still a little terrified.

"Follow me and act natural."

Thorne would have laughed at her comment if he wasn't trying to keep up with her and act as natural as he could at the same time. He wasn't even sure what that meant. Was he suppose to act like how he normally acted? He was positive that wasn't what Cress meant, because his natural state was to feel skittish, especially when following a head-strong elf who was determined to break some rules.

He followed Cress as she got in line at one of the ticketing booths at the far end of the stadium. It was a bit shorter than the ones closer to the main gate and Thorne tried to work out her plan. Surely it made more sense to hide in the middle of the crowd? No, Cress was right, they should try to avoid detection.

"Get ready," she said to him and he had to wipe his sweaty palms onto the pant leg of his jeans.

As they stepped up to the ticketing clerk, Thorne peered through the window and found that sitting on the counter was, in fact, a list of students that were not permitted to enter the stadium for that night's game. He gulped.

Cress's sweet voice filled the air when she addressed the sandy-haired boy behind the window. He was wearing a royal blue Kamin High School t-shirt. "Oh hi Roland, how are you?"

The boy stared at Cress for a brief second before regaining his composure and smiling at her. "Hey, Cress. Doing well, I guess. You?"

Cress dipped her lashes and fluttered them twice before smiling her dimpled smile and Thorne knew if she had directed it at him, he would have done anything she asked. "I'm great, but listen. Thorne and I—" she gestured towards Thorne who held up a hand in greeting. "—Are in a bit of a hurry. I have something that I have to get to Scarlet right away. You know Scarlet, don't you?"

The way Cress emphasized Scarlet's name and the way Roland's eyes turned almost dreamy made Thorne think that Roland did, indeed, know Scarlet. Roland nodded as confirmation.

"Then you know she's head cheerleader now and had to rush over here with the squad after school. She forgot something really important at home and we're here to bring it to her."

Roland nodded slowly, turning towards the stack of tickets sitting on top of the "Do Not Admit" list.

"I mean, it's pretty urgent." Cress hesitated before leaning in like she was sharing a secret. "It's—um— _a girl thing._ Unless, you want to make the delivery yourself—"

"Uh. N-no. It's fine." Roland's eyes were wide when Cress made a show of reaching into the purse slung across her body.

Even though Thorne knew she was making it up, he couldn't help but blush along with Roland who hastily grabbed two tickets without checking the sheet and handed them over to Cress, waving them through. Cress smirked as they walked through the gate and she tucked a ticket into Thorne's uninjured hand. Her smirk deepened as they eased into the crowd making their way to the bleachers, revealing the dimple that drove Thorne crazy. He couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of him.

Thorne was just about to compliment her on a job well done, when she suddenly squeaked and grabbed his shirt, pulling him behind a bank of vending machines. Cress held onto the front of Thorne's shirt as he spun with her, pressing her back against the wall. When he opened his mouth to ask what was going on, she pressed her fingers against his lips and looked out at something past his shoulder. He tried to turn his head to see what was behind him, but she moved her hand to his cheek so that he would keep his head facing forward, staring at her.

Thorne counted his heartbeats. Twelve. Twelve agonizing heartbeats as Cress clutched his shirt, her hand pressed against his face, him standing mere inches in front of her. He was so close he could smell a whole garden full of roses and dragged his gaze across her face, connecting the dots of her freckles with his eyes. Twelve. Twelve seconds before Cress dipped her eyelashes and swept her gaze up to him.

Smiling, she let go of him. "Coast is clear."

Thorne turned to see the back of Principal Vargas's head shuffling into the crowd. He let out a slow breath. "That was close. How did you see him so quickly?"

Cress grinned. "I'm a criminal mastermind." She slipped out from her spot against the wall, unfazed by the fact that Thorne's whole body was practically pressed up against her, and started her search for Kai and Cinder.

Thorne had to give himself a moment to breathe and collect his thoughts. He was convinced all of this was a dream and wasn't actually happening. A tug on the back of his shirt brought him out of his reverie and he spun around to see Cress looking at him.

"You okay?"

He nodded and followed her as they joined the crowd making their way to the bleachers. This time, Thorne made sure to scan the crowd for any signs of Principal Vargas. Luckily, they didn't see him again and Thorne was able to spot Kai and Cinder quickly. They were seated on the 45 yard line a third of the way up the bleachers and were obviously saving seats for them. He pointed them out to Cress and followed her up the steps, watching as her hair bounced in the ponytail it was pulled into.

Kai hugged Cress and clasped his hand onto Thorne's shoulder as greetings when the pair reached him. Cinder gave Cress a high-five and was about to give Thorne one as well when she saw the splint. She settled for patting him on the shoulder and he couldn't help but blush. A few people around them said hi to Cress and Thorne was surprised when they extended their greetings to him. He hadn't even thought they knew his name.

When half-time came, Thorne offered to go with Kai to get the snacks, but Kai brushed him off, insisting that Thorne wouldn't be much help with a broken hand. He started feeling self-conscious about it until Cinder turned to him and asked about The Rampion.

"So when are you going to show me this boat of yours?"

Thorne looked at her incredulously. "You want to see my boat?"

"Sure. Cress says it's impressive."

"It is." Cress insisted as she leaned over Thorne to tell Cinder. "I haven't seen it since it's been finished, but I bet it's amazing." She beamed at Thorne.

Thorne ducked his head in embarrassment.

"Hi Thorne."

The three of them looked up to see Kate standing on the stairs, waving at him.

"Oh. Hi Kate." Thorne replied. "Um—do you know Cress and Cinder?"

Kate smiled, trying to hide a laugh. "Yeah. Hi," she said to the girls.

"Hey," Cress and Cinder replied back in unison.

There was a second of silence before Kate spoke up. "Well, I'll see you around."

Thorne nodded and waved bye to her.

"Who's that?" Cinder asked as she watched Kate walk away.

"Kate. She works at the bookshop in the square." Thorne turned to Cress. "She's the one the that built the book hot hair balloon."

Cress smiled. "That's impressive. I think she's in my calculus class." There was a distant look in Cress's eyes, but Thorne figured he was just imagining it because she jumped up when Kai returned with their snacks and held out her hands, eager for her Skittles.

Thorne spent the rest of the game cheering for Wolf along with Cress, Cinder, and Kai. He even took turns with Kai holding up a poster that read Killer Kesley #62 and groaned with the rest of East Commons's fans as the clock dwindled to sixteen seconds and Kamin High's quarterback took a knee after the snap. They had lost by three points and Kai's disappointment was evident.

Cinder brushed his hair away from his face and kissed Kai once on each cheek and then on the lips. Thorne looked away, but Kai's mood seemed to have improved after that. Cress smirked and tugged on Thorne's shirt to indicate that they were moving. She kept a hand on his shoulder as he led the way down the steps and maneuvered around the empty popcorn boxes and soda bottles strewn on the ground.

"Pizza?" Cinder asked.

Kai nodded solemnly and Cress turned to Thorne.

"Yes, of course."

Cress beamed. "We'll meet you guys there."

Cinder nodded and led Kai away by the arm. Cress couldn't help but laugh as she and Thorne made their way back to Thorne's Jeep. Thorne couldn't help but laugh too.


	9. Chapter 9

Thorne pulled up in front of Cress's house for the second day in a row. He couldn't believe that he had seen Cress every single day that week and was seeing her again that Saturday. If he had known this was his reward for fracturing his fingers, he would have considered punching a jerk in the face sooner.

He rang the doorbell and waited. To his surprise, it was Cinder who answered the door.

"Hey Thorne, ready to show off your stuff?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Cinder laughed. "Nope."

The topic of The Rampion had come up during pizza the night before and now the whole gang was interested in seeing the ship. Before Thorne knew it, Kai and Cress were planning a picnic in the park. He wasn't exactly sure how it had happened, but then Cress had reached over and squeezed his hand gently and he had nodded in agreement.

"Sorry! I'm here," Cress called out as she walked to the front door, carrying a large canvas tote bag.

Thorne stared at her. Her long, blonde hair, which was always pulled into an impressive braid or up-do, had been cropped short and now it fell down in waves that framed her heart-shaped face, stopping just below her chin. She lifted her fingers to tug on the short ends.

Cinder cleared her throat and Thorne snapped out of his daze. His eyes shifted towards the bag Cress was carrying and reached for it.

"Here, let me get that for you."

Cress let him take the tote bag, which Thorne could see was stuffed with a wide range of items including napkins, paper plates, and a large rolled quilt.

"I hope you don't mind that Cinder rides with us. Kai has a student council meeting this morning about the Homecoming dance so he's going to meet us at the park," Cress said as she locked the door behind her.

"Of course he doesn't mind," Cinder answered for Thorne and made her way towards his car.

Thorne shrugged and Cress laughed as they followed behind. Cinder was impressed that Thorne had a Jeep and mused that it made him instantly cool. Cress smirked knowingly and nudged him while mouthing "male lead." It took a bit of maneuvering to fit the bag and Cinder in the back while making sure The Rampion was safe. Cress offered to sit in the back since she was smaller, but Cinder insisted that she wanted to inspect the ship before watching it sail. The look of horror on Thorne's face when he thought there was a chance Cinder might fiddle with it while in the back seat made her cackle and she promised she wouldn't touch it unless he gave her permission.

When everyone and everything had been strapped in safely, Thorne pulled out onto the street and they made their way to the park. It took about twenty seconds before Cinder's voice piped up from the back.

"Why do you have plastic champagne flutes back here?"

Thorne's eyes flickered to the rear view mirror to see Cinder holding up the item in question. Cress turned around to get a better look. Thorne's face flushed as he remembered the day he had asked Cress to join him at the lake to watch The Rampion sail. Since Cress had a date and he had ended up drinking a bottle of cider alone, he had not needed the flutes and had forgotten they were back there.

"N-no reason."

Cinder met Thorne's gaze in the rear view mirror and he shifted his eyes back onto the road. Thorne cast his eyes towards Cress to see if she was still looking back at Cinder and was relieved to see her fiddling with the radio. She settled on the 80s station and Thorne and Cinder laughed as she started belting along to Queen.

When they got to the park and parked the car, the three of them stood behind the Jeep peering into the back, contemplating the best way to get the schooner and all their stuff to the lake. Thorne was able to carry the body of the boat with one arm, but that was when he was just testing it out. Now that all the sails were installed, it was definitely a two-arm job and he wasn't sure he would be able to do it by himself with his injured hand. His dad had had to help him load it into the Jeep that morning.

Thorne hadn't thought about how he was going to get the schooner from his car to the lake, but he supposed Cinder was going to have to help him. Cress certainly wouldn't be able to do it due to their height difference.

Thorne nodded, pulling his backpack on and making sure the extra buckles were clipped securely across his chest. Cress stifled a giggle but he ignored her. This was important business. He pulled the canvas tote bag out of the back and handed it to her.

"Got it?"

"Yes, Captain!" Cress saluted as she took the bag from him. Now it was Cinder's turn to stifled a giggle.

Thorne pulled the tarp off the rig that he had carefully constructed to make sure that nothing actually touched any of the sails he had painstakingly strung those weeks before. He knew the girls were waiting on him, but he took the time to fold the tarp up neatly and tucked it under the back seat before releasing the model ship from its harness—another thing he had constructed to make sure the schooner was safe in his car.

"Okay. I'm going to pull it out and Cinder, you come around and grab the stern. Okay, got it?"

"Yeah, I got it. Wow, it's much heavier than I thought it was going to be," Cinder mused.

This did not fill Thorne with confidence. He took a deep breath. "'Kay. We're going to pull the ship out now. Cress, can you make sure to grab the stand and lock the car?"

"Sure. Where are the keys?"

Thorne paused before groaning. His voice dropped an octave. "They're in my pocket."

Cress walked up with no hesitation and lifted the front of his t-shirt. She grabbed the keys by the leather lanyard that stuck out of his jean pocket. Thorne's breath hitched during the brief second that Cress's hand was pressed against his hip and he thought he was going to die.

He cleared his throat. "Okay Cinder, forward march."

Thorne was glad they made it to his bench without any incident and he let out a breath of relief when Cress set the stand on the ground and Cinder and Thorne eased The Rampion onto it. Cinder stretched her arms above her head.

"Well, that was a work out. Where's Scarlet with the food?"

Cress looked up from her phone. "They're parking now. Kai's here too."

Thorne and Cinder helped Cress lay out the quilt she had brought to use as a picnic blanket and as Cress pulled out the last of the tote bag's contents, Scarlet, Wolf, and Kai walked up. Cinder greeted her boyfriend with arms wrapped around his neck and a kiss. Thorne felt comfortable enough around them now that his first instinct wasn't to look away. He figured that was progress.

Both Wolf and Kai bumped elbows with Thorne in greeting, hoping to avoid his injured hand and Scarlet gave him a smile that made him blush. Scarlet complimented Cress on her new haircut and Wolf wrapped his arms around Cress and picked her up as she squealed, calling her small fry, and letting her punch him in the arm. His smirk indicated that he didn't even feel the assault.

Kai walked up to The Rampion to inspect it. He let out a low whistle. "Wow. When you guys were talking about a model ship, I thought you meant like a plastic toy or something." He pulled a delicate finger along the ship's starboard side. "This is like the real deal."

Wolf also came up for a closer look. "How big is it?"

Thorne beamed. "From end to end it's thirty-two inches."

Kai whistled again.

"And you built it all by yourself?" Scarlet asked in awe.

Thorne chuckled before nodding. "Yeah."

Cinder clapped her hands together. "Enough with the chitchat. Let's see this baby sail."

Cress bent down and kissed the starboard bow before Kai and Wolf lowered The Rampion into the water. Thorne looked at her, amused, and she shrugged.

"For good luck."

Thorne flipped the switch on and nudged the throttle with his thumb. The Rampion pushed forward and everyone cheered. They all stood in a line watching as the schooner sailed around the lake. Cress stood on Thorne's left side with Scarlet and Wolf, while Cinder and Kai stood on his right. Their impressed comments kept a constant smile on Thorne's face. Kai asked if he could have a turn with the controls, but Cress interjected, indignantly, saying she was first mate and if anyone got to go first, it was her.

Thorne shrugged at Kai and passed the controller to Cress. She expertly sailed the ship around the lake twice before handing off the controls. In the end, everyone had a turn guiding The Rampion on the water. Even Wolf, who was initially terrified, did a great job with some help and coaxing from Scarlet. Thorne was also impressed with Scarlet's sailing abilities. She was a natural.

Soon, Wolf's stomach growled and he begged for them to take a break. Thorne steered The Rampion back to the shore and Wolf and Kai pulled it out of the water and back onto its stand. They all gathered around the picnic blanket and laughed at Wolf's attempt to sneak an arm around Scarlet to snatch up a grape while distracting her with a kiss. Cress cleared her throat.

"Can I have your attention please?" She smirked. "Before we eat, I'd like to propose a toast to  _Captain_  Thorne on this momentous occasion."

Thorne's face was on fire. "What occasion is this?"

"The induction of your crew, of course." She gestured towards her friends.

If the heat on his cheeks were any indication, Thorne was convinced he would burst into flames at any moment.

"Speech! Speech!" Kai called out.

Thorne rubbed the back of his neck. "Um—I—I really don't know what to say."

Cress stood up. "You don't have to say anything." She reached into the cooler that Scarlet and Wolf had brought and pulled out a bottle of champagne. Real champagne.

Thorne's eyes widened and he looked around to make sure no one else could see tiny Cress waving around a bottle of alcohol in the middle of the day at the park in front of a bunch of teenagers. Luckily, the area around the lake was empty except for their party.

Cress popped the cork like an expert and handed the bottle to Thorne. He hesitated, but persuaded by the eagerness on her face, took the bottle from her and took a swig. The bubbles fizzled in his throat and when it settled in his stomach, it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. Thorne handed the bottle back to Cress who took her own swig and then passed the bottle on.

When it came back around to Thorne, he didn't hesitate and took a deeper drink. It was his first time having champagne and he found that he enjoyed it immensely. Between the six of them, they finished the bottle off quickly and although Thorne liked the bubbly, he was glad he didn't have more than a couple of sips. Soon, food was being passed around and Thorne settled down with an impressive spread on his plate.

As they ate, they began to discuss who was to have what title on the Rampion's crew. Cress laid claim to first mate right off the bat and the group agreed that Scarlet would be the chef. Thorne, being the ship enthusiast that he was, informed them that Cress would probably prefer quartermaster since that was actually the second in command and due to Scarlet's expert sailing of the schooner, she could be the sailingmaster. The girls beamed at him and urged him to give jobs to the others. Thorne thought about it for a while and dubbed Cinder the boatswain who was in charge of handling all the maintenance on the ship as well as overseeing the dropping of the anchor and the handling of the sails. He had a harder time placing Kai and Wolf into roles and Cress, the newly dubbed quartermaster, said they could just be deck swabbers.

They all laughed at that, but Kai, not satisfied with such a lowly title, offered up ship's surgeon. "You guys," he said gesturing towards them, "get into too much trouble without me."

Thorne was surprised to be see himself get lumped into the group, but then realized his hand was in a splint because he had punched someone in the face and Kai had been there to break up the fight.

Wolf was too full and content to care what his title was and even though he was lying down, absentmindedly rubbing his belly, he asked Scarlet to hand him some more grapes. This time, Thorne had to look away. He might be okay with being in the presence of an innocent peck on the lips, but watching Scarlet feed grapes to Wolf in between kisses was too much PDA for him.

Thorne got up and cleared his throat. "Th-thanks for the food, Scarlet. It was great. I'm going to try and walk some of this off."

Cress stood up. "I'll come with you."

Thorne couldn't help the bubble of excitement that rose up his chest.

"Does anyone else want to come?" Cress asked her friends.

The bubble burst.

The rest of the group waved them off, groaning about being too full to move, so Thorne led the way around the lake. He fiddled with the end of tape that was beginning to loosen on his splint. "Thanks for doing this. It's been really fun." He found it difficult to make eye contact with Cress, so he just looked at the ground instead.

"You're welcome." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Cress wasn't looking at Thorne either. In fact, she was tugging at the tips of her short hair and looking out onto the lake.

They walked in silence for a short while and Thorne let himself fall a step behind her so he could look at her properly without being noticed. He watched as the ends of her short hair swayed back and forth and he liked how it revealed the few freckles that were on her neck. Thorne had always thought of Cress's freckles as stars and from spending so much time with her that week, he had memorized their exact location on her skin. They were like a constellation to him now.

He pondered what he could name the two freckles that had revealed themselves now that she no longer had a braid draped over her shoulder, hiding them. They were twins, a half inch apart that sat just where the line of her neck sloped into the curve of her shoulder.

Cress chose that exact moment to turn to him and caught him staring at her.

Thorne's face blanched and he tried to recover quickly. "I—I like your new haircut."

Cress reached up again to twirl her fingers in her short locks and her eyes twinkled. "Really? You do?"

Thorne nodded. "I should have said something sooner. I'm sorry I didn't."

"It's okay. I'm glad you like it, though." The excitement in her smile was contagious and Thorne couldn't help but smile himself.

They continued walking in silence, but this time the tension that Thorne thought was there before, wasn't. Maybe it was never really there and he was just nervous, or the champagne was getting to him.

"I also like your friends. They're really nice."

"They are nice, but, they're your friends, too."

"I've never had friends before. Not really."

Cress turned to him and smiled. "Well, now you have these nerds."

Thorne let out a laugh at the idea of anyone calling Kai, Cinder, Scarlet, and Wolf nerds. They were the envy of the school and Thorne still couldn't understand why they had chosen him to be friends with. Sometimes he wondered if this was all a dream, or a cruel joke. His eyes flickered across the lake to the group lounging out on the picnic blanket and then back to Cress. No, he knew Cress didn't he? She would never be that cruel. Could never be that cruel.

_She's a heartbreaker of men._  Thorne heard Kai's voice in his ear. He didn't know why his brain chose that moment to remind him of those heart wrenching words and he hated it. He shook his head to dislodge it from his mind.

"So this Homecoming thing is a big deal, huh?"

Cress's eyes were bright when she turned to him.

"I mean—since Kai has to have meetings about it on a Saturday."

"Ha! I guess you're right. Some people get really into it, though." She smiled. "Are you going?"

Thorne laughed. The idea of him going to a school dance was ridiculous to him. "No. Are you?"

Cress paused and looked out onto the lake again. "I don't know, yet."

Thorne felt a tug at his heart. She almost sounded sad and he was afraid she had taken his laugh as him making fun of her for wanting to go. "I'm surprised there isn't a line of guys ready to ask you," he teased, hoping to sound light-hearted.

Cress laughed her amused, tinkling laugh, and it eased him. "Maybe I'm still trying to decide between them all."

They finished their turn around the lake and when they got back to the group, they found that everything had been packed up. Wolf needed to be at the restaurant to help his mom that evening and Scarlet was going to go with him to study and keep him company. Kai mentioned something about a date before kissing Cinder on the cheek. When Thorne looked over at Cress, she asked if he wouldn't mind giving her a ride home and just like that, it was an end to one of Thorne's best days.

He nodded and Cress bent down to pick up the canvas tote bag. Thorne headed over to the schooner to collect it.

"Here, let us help you with that," Kai said and he and Wolf jogged over to him.

The guys lifted The Rampion between them and made their way to Thorne's Jeep as he followed behind, carrying the stand. Thorne was glad to see that they were being particularly gentle with the ship. Kai even patted its starboard side gently before stepping away.

Thorne clipped The Rampion into its harness, but didn't bother to cover it with the tarp. He was just going to drop Cress off and go home anyway. He felt a tug on his arm and was surprised to see he was alone with Wolf.

"Hey, listen. I wanted to give this back to you." Wolf pressed a twenty dollar bill into Thorne's hand.

Thorne began to protest, but Wolf scowled at him and he stopped.

"It's yours." Wolf's striking green eyes flickered to Cress and in an off-hand sort of way, he added, "She likes roses."

Thorne watched as Wolf walked away and joined Scarlet at her car. Cress waved goodbye to her friends and they called out farewells to him. He waved as they drove off.

The car ride back to Cress's house was uneventful, but Thorne felt an anxiety in his chest that he hadn't felt in a long while. He didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to feel nervous about what would happen on Monday. Even though he felt comfortable calling Cress and her group of friends his friends now, he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like when they were all back at school. They were still the most popular kids and he was still just a nobody.

He was also a bit embarrassed that Wolf, of all people, had approached him about Cress. He wasn't sure what that even meant. Had she put him up to it? Had it meant that the group knew about his feelings towards Cress and had approved of him? He wasn't even sure that Cress knew and if she did, did she like him back? He still felt that their friendship, although fast, was tenuous and he was afraid of doing something that would jeopardize it. He was perfectly happy with taking his time. He had admired her from afar for almost a year and had agreed with the tortoise that slow and steady wins the race.

Cress reached over and played with the radio, humming a tune Thorne had never heard before, until she could find a station to settle on. Thorne's eyes flickered towards her every now and then and he began to wonder if he was being a little too slow.

When they finally pulled up in front of Cress's house, Thorne walked Cress to her door, carrying her tote bag for her. She unlocked the door and he hesitated for a moment before handing her the bag.

"Thanks for everything."

Cress looked at him, smiling. "What do you mean?"

"Everything. Taking me to get my hand looked at, studying all this week, hanging out, today." Thorne rubbed the back of his neck. "It's kinda been the best week."

Cress's face broke into her dimpled grin. "The pleasure was all mine." She bit her lip and placed a hand on Thorne's shoulder.

He froze.

Cress pushed herself onto her tiptoes and pressed a kiss onto his cheek. Her eyelashes dipped down before she said, "Thanks for the ride. Bye," and stepped inside her house.

Thorne stood there, dumbfounded. Dazed, he turned on his heels and made his way back to his car, fingering the spot on his cheek where Cress's lips had touched his skin.


	10. Chapter 10

Thorne sat in his car for a full five minutes after Cress had kissed him and wondered what it all meant. It was only a kiss on the cheek, but did she make it a habit of kissing all of her friends on the cheek? She hadn't said anything after it to give Thorne any indication of why she had done it and what it had meant. Maybe it had been just a friendly thank you kiss. Did people give thank you kisses? Was that a thing?

Thorne couldn't keep his fingertips off the spot on his cheek, which tingled where Cress's soft lips had touched it. She had kissed him.  _She_  kissed  _him_. And he had done nothing but stand there and watch her leave. He should have done something. If he were more bold or daring, he would have grabbed her and kissed her back, fully on the mouth.

The thought of kissing Cress like that made the heat rise up his neck and Thorne realized he had been sitting in front of her house for far too long. He quickly turned the ignition and pulled out onto the street, hoping she had not seen him sitting stunned in his car.

* * *

Thorne hurriedly stuffed books into his backpack as he stood in front of his locker. It was odd standing there now, remembering the fist fight and how he had nearly passed out. As he zipped up his backpack, a hand clapped down on his shoulder and he froze. Holding his breath, he spun around to see a boy almost as tall as him, with messy brown hair. Thorne recalled his name being Alec, but had never spoken to him before.

"Hey man, how's it going?"

"F—fine," Thorne replied, almost scared of what Alec was going to say next.

"I just wanted to say way to go with Julian. He is such a jerk."

Thorne nodded. "Yeah. He is."

Alec chuckled. "I'll see you around."

Thorne watched as Alec made his way down the corridor and wondered what that was all about. He was just about to close his locker when two girls walked by and said hi to him. Thorne could only manage a weak wave before they, too, made their way down the hall. For a split second, he wondered if someone had stuck a note on his back as a joke, but when he reached behind himself to check, he could only feel the soft jersey of his t-shirt.

Bewildered, Thorne made his way down the hallway and around the corner to his first period class. On the way, five people stopped to say hi to him and someone even gave him a fist-bump. He scratched his head in confusion until he looked up and saw Kai, Cinder, Scarlet and Wolf hanging around their lockers. Thorne was always impressed at how they managed to get lockers right next to each other, but figured Kai had special perks for being student body president, or they were just incredibly lucky like all popular kids seemed to be.

"Hi, Thorne," a cute brunette said to him as she walked by.

"Um—hi," came Thorne's weak reply. He watched her go and turned to see the gang looking at him.

"Hey man, how's it going?" Kai asked. The rest of the group followed with their greetings.

"Um …" Thorne rubbed the back of his neck. "Kind of weird, actually. All these people keep saying hi to me."

"What's so weird about that?" Scarlet asked as she flipped through a notebook in her hand.

Thorne shook his head, feeling self-conscious. "Nevermind." He looked around, noticing someone missing. "Where's Cress?"

"I think she's talking to Kinney." Kai gestured his thumb down the hall.

Thorne's eyes followed in the direction of Kai's finger and when he finally spotted her, his heart sank.

She stood less than ten feet away from him with her back pressed against the wall. She was talking to a tall, handsome boy who had thick, wavy brown hair and who was hovering over her. Liam Kinney, the football team's quarterback, had his hand resting on the wall by Cress's head and casually leaned into it as he talked to her. He was smiling way too much for Thorne's liking.

Thorne frowned, remembering that he and Cress had been almost in that exact position just a couple of days ago at the football game, except that they had been hiding from Principle Vargas. He recognized that Cress was now standing there with Kinney because she wanted to and by the looks of it, she was enjoying herself. Thorne watched as she smiled back at Kinney and even laughed at something he said.

The tinkling sound reached Thorne and instead of filling his chest with the familiar tingle it had always done before, it just burned in his ears. Apparently that kiss had meant nothing after all.

The bell rang, and Thorne caught Cress's eye for a brief second before he turned to make his way to his physics class. He thought he heard his name being called out in the distance, but the sound was muffled by shuffling feet and the chatter that usually filled the halls when students were making their way to class. Thorne couldn't bring himself to turn around to see if it was Cress who had called his name.

* * *

Thorne leaned against one of the large sycamore trees on the school grounds. It was his lunch hour and instead of spending it in the cafeteria or library like he normally would, he opted to eat his peanut butter and jelly sandwich out on the grass near the soccer pitch. Most of the students avoided it because it was out of the way and if they wanted to eat outside, they would hang out on the lawn next to the football team's practice field. Thorne was hoping he could avoid the masses.

Sighing, he slid down the length of the tree and settled himself against the base of its trunk.

"You okay there?" A voice next to him piped up.

Thorne jumped and clutched his chest, but eased when he saw Kate's friendly face. She must have been sitting there the whole time. "Stars Kate, you scared me."

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

Thorne nodded and took two gulps of air to try and regulate his breathing. Kate watched him as he calmed down.

"How come you're out here? I've never seen you here before."

"I—um—am trying to—"

"Tough being popular, huh?"

Thorne breathed a sigh of relief. "It's pretty unsettling. Have these people always known my name and just chose to ignore me?"

Kate laughed, tucking the book she was holding into her lap.

"I haven't actually  _done_  anything for their attention."

"You got into a fist fight and got suspended. You're like, the bad boy, now," Kate teased.

Thorne laughed uneasily. "I don't think that's it."

"The prettiest girl in school came to your rescue and her friends backed you up?"

Thorne picked at the crust of his sandwich. "Is that true? Is it really because of Cress?"

Kate shrugged. "You were hanging out with her and her friends at the football game. Someone said you were at the park together, too."

"Oh." Thorne rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, that's a relief."

"How so?"

"I thought I had done something to warrant everyone's attention. It's good to know it's not my fault at all and I can blame Cress for this misery."

Kate laughed, but it died quickly when she saw the look on his face. Thorne was just joking about it being Cress's fault that he was miserable, but when the words fell out of his mouth, he found it had rang truer than he had thought. He shook his head. Of course it wasn't Cress's fault. She had done nothing wrong. She had only been nice to him and tried to stick up for him.

If Thorne were to blame anyone for his misery, it would have to be himself. He was the one who tortured himself over his feelings for Cress and wouldn't do anything about them. Thorne was miserable because of his own insecurities. His own failure to act.

Kate shuffled her book around in her hands before asking, "What's going on between the two of you?"

"Nothing."

Kate looked at Thorne and he resigned himself to another sigh. "You like her, don't you?"

Thorne nodded.

"And she likes you. So—"

"What makes you think that?"

Kate shrugged. "Just a hunch."

Thorne sighed again, dragging a hand down his face.

"What makes you think she doesn't?"

"Kinney."

"Oh. He's dreamy."

Thorne pursed his lips.

Kate laughed. She playfully nudged him in the shoulder. "So are you, so go ask Cress out already."

There was a hint of teasing in Kate's eyes, but he could tell she was being genuine and it made him feel increasingly better. He was grateful for his new found friendship with all of Cress's friends, but there was something about Kate's kindness that made him cherish hers even more. Maybe it was the fact that she was nice to him before the rest of the school decided he was cool or maybe because they had become friends without Cress's help.

"Do you really think Cress would say yes if I asked her out?"

Kate smiled. "I do." She picked her book back up and continued reading where she had left off.

Thorne thought about it for a while and pulled out his copy of the  _Complete Poems of John Keats_ , turning to a page he had dog-eared the day before.

* * *

Sitting at the desk in his bedroom, Thorne couldn't focus on his physics homework. He had hoped to talk to Cress after school, but when he spotted her down the long corridor, she had been talking to Kinney once again. Thorne had lost all the nerves he had built up after his talk with Kate at lunch and although Cress and Kinney had not been in the same stance that they had been that morning, Thorne had not been able to bring himself to walk up and talk to her. The two had been surrounded by Cress's friends and everyone had looked like they were engaged in a story Kinney was telling.

Thorne rubbed his face and smacked his notebook against the textbook that was open on his desk. The sudden gust of wind made a crumpled dollar bill fly across the desk and Thorne reached for it before it tumbled off the edge. He pushed his books out of the way before he gingerly smoothed the twenty dollar bill out flat against the worn walnut of the table.

He had forgotten about the money that Wolf had pressed into his hand, telling him to buy Cress roses. Wolf, out of all of Cress's friends, had intimidated him the most, but had been the one to give Thorne a glimmer of hope. He didn't think Wolf would have said something like that to Thorne if he didn't expect him to act upon it. Like Thorne, Wolf was a man of few words, and Thorne decided that the words he did choose to say were important. Thorne ran his thumb over the edge of the wrinkled money, finally deciding to be bold. He fished his phone out of this backpack and took three deep breaths before dialing Cress's number.

She picked up after the second ring. "Hello?"

Even though she was miles away, just hearing her voice so close to his ear made the hairs on the back of Thorne's neck stand up. "Hi, Cress."

"Thorne! Hi. I didn't get a chance to talk to you at school."

Thorne smiled to hear her sounding so buoyant. "Yeah, I know. It was kind of weird being back wasn't it?"

Cress laughed. "Yeah, kinda. If only we could open up Cress and Thorne's School for the Suspended and Criminally Inclined. We could have classes at the park every day."

"Don't tempt me. Is there anyone else you think deserves a punch in the face?"

"Yes, but maybe we should wait until your hand heals fully before we start knocking heads and taking names."

Thorne laughed. "Deal."

"How is your hand, by the way?"

Thorne looked down at his splinted fingers and twisted it around to get a better look from the light of his desk lamp. "Okay, I guess. I wouldn't know. It doesn't really hurt much, which I think is a good thing."

"You should come by for a check up. You can even come over to the house if you want."

"Yeah. That—that would be lovely." Thorne cringed at himself.  _That would be lovely?_

Cress let out a soft laugh.

"Hey, Cress?"

"Yes?"

"I—um—wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, what's up?"

"Um … "

Cress's voice was gentle, yet encouraging. "You can ask me anything."

Thorne hesitated. He clearly did not think this through and now panic was rising in him. He should have practiced how to do this, or at the very least, written something out.

"Thorne?"

Thorne cleared his throat. "I—uh—doyouwannagooutsometime?"

Silence.

Thorne closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Cress, would you like to go out with me sometime?"

More silence and Thorne began to wonder if their call had been cut off, when Cress finally spoke.

"When?"

"This Saturday?"

"Yes." A pause. "That would be  _lovely._ "

Thorne could almost hear the smile on Cress's face and couldn't keep from smiling himself. He was sure he looked like a complete lunatic. "So, it's a date?"

"It's a date," Cress giggled.

"Great! I'll—I'll let you know about the details … later."

Another tinkling laugh from Cress. "Okay."

"Goodnight, Cress."

"Goodnight, Thorne."

Thorne heard Cress let out a soft breath before she hung up and he finally allowed himself his fit of nervous laughter, full of pure elation. Thorne spun around in his chair until he felt dizzy and then suddenly stopped himself. It was one thing to have Cress agree to go out with him, but now he needed to take her on the perfect date. He pulled the bottom drawer of his desk out and rummaged around to find a map and his calculator. He flipped to a new page in his notebook and began his planning.


	11. Chapter 11

Thorne chewed on his bottom lip as he pulled onto Cress's street. He didn't know why he was so nervous. He had been there less than twenty-four hours ago, dropping Cress off after they had gotten pizza at Maha's. The night had been a joyous occasion since East Commons had beaten Kufra High thirty-one to fifteen and Wolf managed an impressive eighty-four yard dash to score the first goal of the night.

Everyone had been in high spirits and Thorne couldn't help but think that Cress had looked particularly radiant every time he stole a glance at her. Once, Thorne's eyes had caught Wolf's and he smiled at Thorne so wide, he flashed his canines. Thorne wondered if the rest of the group knew that he and Cress would be going on a date the following night. He assumed they did and was glad they didn't make a big deal about it. As excited as he was for the upcoming event, he could have easily thrown up just thinking about it.

Afterwards, while Thorne had been driving Cress home, she had slipped her hand into his free one without saying a word. When he looked over at her, he could see a smile on her face even though she didn't look at him. They rode in silence until they had gotten to Cress's house and Thorne was reluctant to let go. She had given his hand a squeeze before he got out to open the car door for her and took his hand immediately again as he walked her to her front door.

When they had gotten to the porch, Thorne licked his lips instinctively, but didn't know if he should try to kiss her then. Technically they weren't out on a date just yet and it would have been Thorne's first kiss. He wanted it to be perfect and if he was being honest with himself, he was afraid of disappointing Cress, who would have had much more experience in that area. His hesitation gave Cress enough time to push herself on her tiptoes and give Thorne another quick peck on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Thorne. I'll see you tomorrow," she had said before slipping into her house. Again, he had stood at her door, bewildered.

Standing there now, Thorne shook the nerves out of both his arms and legs before ringing the doorbell. Dr. Darnel promptly greeted him.

"Ah, Mr. Thorne, so nice to see you again. Come in." The small man stepped aside to let Thorne into the house.

"Thank you, sir."

"Come, come. Let me take a look at your hand while Crescent gets ready."

Thorne followed Dr. Darnel past the living room and through the main hallway that led to the back of the house towards the kitchen. He couldn't stop himself from slowing down to admire the many framed photographs on the walls.

Cress possibly at age eight, wearing a bright pink helmet and sitting atop a sparkling blue bicycle with multi-colored steamers, grinning from ear to ear and exposing a missing front tooth; Cress in a frilly pink dress and pigtails, cheeks puffed out and eyes in deep concentration in front of a frosted pink birthday cake and a large, lit, number five candle; Cress in shorts that showed off knobby and scabbed knees doing a cartwheel in the grass; Cress no more than a couple months old, sleeping in a bassinet with a sparkling moon and stars hanging from slender ribbons above her; Cress more recently, maybe from prom the year before, in a stunning royal blue dress with blue sequins that dotted the bodice and a skirt of silk and organza that made it look like she was being pulled out to sea.

Thorne heard the opening and closing of drawers and he snapped to attention. He gave the wall of photographs one last sweep of his eyes and continued down the hallway to the kitchen where Dr. Darnel was waiting for him.

"Have a seat, Mr. Thorne." Dr. Darnel gestured towards one of the chairs surrounding the oak table that sat six. Thorne thought about how odd it was that Cress would have such a large kitchen table, but then realized that her friends—The Rampion Crew, they had dubbed themselves the night before at the pizza parlor—would probably have been around often.

Thorne sat and set down the bouquet of roses he had bought earlier that afternoon. He had driven twenty minutes to get to a specialty florist and after spending almost thirty minutes perusing all of the interesting flora he had never seen before, he had realized that if he didn't buy roses, Wolf would probably beat him up. Thorne spent another thirty minutes deciding on the right color since the shop had dozens and dozens of options. He hadn't known there were so many varieties of roses and in so many varying shades of white, pink, yellow, and even purple. In the end, he had settled on a bouquet of two dozen roses of varying species, all in a pink that Thorne thought matched Cress's cheeks when she blushed.

"Alright, let's see what we have here." Dr. Darnel sat down across from Thorne and opened his hands expectantly for Thorne's.

The doctor pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and hummed as he shifted Thorne's hand back and forth in his own. Thorne only winced once when the doctor had poked a sensitive spot on his middle finger, but aside from that, Dr. Darnel made approving noises as he examined Thorne.

"Everything looks to be in order. I'll just re-do the tape on your splint."

"Thank you, sir."

"So where are you planning on taking Crescent this evening?"

Thorne rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "It's—uh—a surprise."

Dr. Darnel chuckled as he snipped the end of the tape and wrapped it around Thorne's fingers. "I get that you want to surprise Cress, but being as I am her  _father_ —"

"Hi, Thorne." Cress stood in the doorway of the kitchen and Thorne could hear the pulse pounding in his ears.

She was wearing a light blue dress printed with flowers with a hem that was shorter than the school dress code allowed, but long enough that Dr. Darnel couldn't make a fuss about it. The light material swished against her thigh as she drummed her fingertips, almost nervously, against her leg. A silver necklace with a glittery moon pendant poked out from behind the dress's collar which wasn't buttoned up all the way and it matched the glittery star hair pin that Cress used to pin back the left side of her hair. She looked beautiful and Thorne felt like his chest was going to burst.

Thorne stood up, forgetting that Dr. Darnel was sitting there. "Hi, Cress. You look—you look beautiful."

Cress smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear.

Thorne reached for the bouquet and handed it to her. "I got these for you."

Cress's eyes twinkled when she saw the bouquet and took it from Thorne, almost crushing it against her chest as she inhaled the flowers' scent. "They're beautiful. Thank you."

"Of course."

Cress smiled and turned towards the kitchen cabinets to get a vase. She was reaching for one on a high shelf when Thorne stepped up and pulled it down for her. Her fingertips brushed his when she took the vase from him and his skin erupted in goosebumps.

"Thank you."

Thorne nodded.

"Mr. Thorne was just telling me where he was planning on taking you." Dr. Darnel piped up, making them both jump.

Cress went to the sink to fill the vase full of water and looked at Thorne curiously.

Thorne rubbed the back of his neck again. "Well, as I was telling your dad, it's a surprise."

Cress smiled.

Dr. Darnel pursed his lips.

"But, I'm sure he has concerns so I have the number of where he can reach us if he needs to." Thorne pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to Dr. Darnel.

The doctor looked at the paper, then back up at Thorne, and down to the paper again before folding it in half and slipping it into his shirt pocket. Cress watched her dad with an amused look on her face and turned to Thorne, hoping to get some answers. Thorne shrugged and Cress laughed before placing the roses into the vase.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked as she set the vase onto the middle of the large kitchen table.

"I am if you are."

Cress turned to her dad to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Bye, Papa."

Dr. Darnel kissed her back and turned his sharp blue eyes onto Thorne. "Goodbye, Mr. Thorne. Don't keep her out too late."

Cress laughed and rolled her eyes before grabbing her jacket and purse that were slung across the banister.

When they got to Thorne's Jeep, he paused before opening the door for her. He fingered the car handle before speaking up. "I just wanted to let you know, again, that you look really, really pretty tonight."

Cress smiled and eyed his outfit. "You're not looking too shabby yourself." She winked and laughed when he looked down at himself and blushed.

Thorne had chosen a blue button-down shirt, tucking it into a pair of khakis and rolling up the sleeves. He smiled to see that his blue shirt matched Cress's blue dress.

When Thorne climbed into the car and turned on the ignition, Cress immediately reached for the radio, but he put his hand out to stop her. She turned to him, curious. Thorne smiled.

"I know you like to play DJ, but I thought I'd give it a go. I made a mixed tape."

"A mixed tape?!"

"Okay, actually a playlist." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the playlist that he had painstakingly prepared. It had taken him a full evening to pull the perfect songs and arrange them in the perfect order. He pressed play and eased when a smile spread across Cress's face.

"I love this song!" Cress proceeded to sing along and Thorne was glad he had spent so much time planning out his perfect date.

After fifteen minutes of driving, Cress started interrogated him about where they were headed, insisting that she hated surprises, but was unable to keep the grin off her face. When she noticed they were driving out of town, she started a new string of questions, but got distracted when they hit a pothole and a clattering sound came from the back of the Jeep. Thorne had to persuade her not to look back there, and was relieved when she obliged, smirking.

Another twenty minutes passed by and Thorne finally pulled off of the highway. The road was lined with trees and Cress leaned forward, trying to make sense of where they were. She turned to him when she finally saw the large green sign at the entrance to where they were heading.

"Bear Bend State Park?"

Thorne beamed.

Cress looked worried.

"Are we going camping?" Cress asked, nervously.

"Not exactly." He reached over to pat her knee reassuringly and she grabbed his hand, not letting go.

He gave her hands a squeeze. "There aren't actually bears here, you know."

Cress nodded, although the look on her face made Thorne think that she didn't exactly believe him. He gave her hand another squeeze before they pulled up to the ticket gate.

"Hey Thorne, how's it going?" A slender blonde guy in his mid-twenties wearing a park ranger outfit greeted them when Thorne rolled down his window.

"Hi Jace. We're great."

Jace tilted his head so he could get a better look at Cress and smiled at Thorne, waving them along. "I marked your spot for you. Have fun."

Thorne couldn't help but grin back. "Thanks."

Cress had finally begun to ease her grip on Thorne's hand. "Come here often?"

Thorne laughed. "You could say that."

Cress sank back in her seat and watched the setting sun flicker between the trees as Thorne drove along the winding dirt road. "This is nice. No one's ever taken me to a state park for a date before."

Thorne grinned, taking Cress's remark as the highest compliment. He slowed down as the trees began to thin and spotted a red balloon marking the spot where he had mapped out the perfect location for their date. He also had to persuade Jace to set up the marker for him, but that had been easier than Thorne had expected. Thorne turned left when they reached the balloon and another clatter came from the back of the car as the terrain underneath them changed.

Another five minutes and the trees broke away to reveal a clearing, lush with grass and wildflowers. Thorne eased the Jeep to a stop, cut the ignition, and turned expectantly to Cress.

"We're here."

Her eyes lit up. "Really?"

He nodded and got out to open the door for her. Cress slipped out and stretched her legs before Thorne pulled her towards the back of the car. He pulled out a blanket and kerosene lamp which he handed to Cress. He rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a map and compass before slinging it across his shoulder. Lastly, he reached for a long, wooden box that gleamed with polish and had CKT monogramed into it in gold lettering. He grabbed it by the worn leather handle and swung the back door of the Jeep closed.

"Come on."

Cress followed Thorne's lead and watched curiously as he held up the compass and consulted the map. He looked up at the sky a couple of times to make sure he was headed in the right direction. Finally, he looked over at Cress and grinned, delicately laying the long box down in the ground and reaching for the blanket. He unfurled it and lay it out on the grass, taking Cress's hand and helping her sit down.

"Wait, one second."

Cress nodded and Thorne sprinted back to the Jeep to pull out the small cooler he had also packed. Her eyes lit up with amusement when he settled himself on the blanket next to her.

"I hope you don't mind, but I made us dinner."

Cress's tinkling laugh rang out. "You  _made_  dinner?"

Thorne blushed as he opened the cooler and began to rummage through it's contents. "Granted, it's not much. Nothing like Scarlet can do. Far from what Scarlet can do, but I like to think I'm an expert on the perfect stargazing food."

Cress beamed at him and the excitement was evident in her voice. "We're stargazing?"

Thorne nodded, unable to keep the smile off his face.

Cress scooted closer on the blanket and peered into the cooler. "So what's the perfect stargazing food?"

"PB and J, of course."

Cress laughed. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Peanut butter is a brain food, you know, and you can't have peanut butter without jelly. Plus, you don't have to look down to eat it."

Cress laughed again. "You're a genius!"

Thorne beamed and handed her a sandwich wrapped in parchment paper. Cress was particularly impressed at the fact that he had cut off the crust and cut the sandwiches in half diagonally. They ate their sandwiches, grapes, and carrot sticks while Thorne explained about finding the perfect spot to see the most constellations for that time of year.

As the sky began to turn from a fiery orange-pink, to a dusty blue, and then deeper, little spots of light began to flicker into existence and Cress pointed them out as they appeared. Thorne told her the names of each of ones he knew, which he was happy to see were most of them, and soon the navy blue sky was so littered with stars that Cress couldn't distinguish one from another.

She sighed happily. "It's so beautiful."

"I'm glad you like it."

"I do." She stretched her legs out and leaned back onto her elbows, giving herself a better view of the skies. Her eyes swept across the dark expanse and then she shot up in a sitting position, her arm stretched out. "Oh look! It's the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper!" She drew out the shape of the smaller cluster of stars in the air, connecting the dots of the bowl before moving up the handle and landing on the end. "And Polaris?"

Thorne couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Yep. How do you know about Polaris?"

Cress hesitated for a moment before answering. "Keats."

Thorne smiled, but he wasn't sure she could have seen him in the darkness.

Two heartbeats later, Cress's voice spoke up.

" _Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art—_

_Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night_

_And watching, with eternal lids apart,_

_Like Nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,_

_The moving waters at their priestlike task_

_Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,_

_Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask_

_Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—_ "

" _No—yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,_ " Thorne interrupted.

" _Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast._ " He blushed and paused a moment before continuing.

" _To feel for ever its soft swell and fall,_

_Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,_

_Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,_

_And so live ever—or else swoon to death._ "

Thorne's cheeks burned and he was glad it was so dark that Cress couldn't see his face. He watched her outline shift. She cleared her throat.

"What's in the box?"

Thorne sat dazed for a second before realizing she was talking about his telescope. He leaned over to the edge of the blanket and turned on the kerosene lamp, illuminating Cress's face in the process. Her pale skin glowed, almost like the face of the moon. Thorne reached over to pull the slender object onto his lap.

"It's my telescope. I thought you might want to see some stars up close." He undid the latch and lifted the lid, revealing a shiny brass telescope.

Cress's eyes lit up as she leaned in to touch it. "It's, beautiful. I didn't even know they make telescopes like this anymore."

"They do, but they're pretty pricey. This one belonged to my granddad." Thorne set up the telescope's wooden tripod and screwed the contraption together. He adjusted the lenses and positioned the shaft towards Polaris. "Here, take a look."

Cress's voice was almost dreamy. "That's beautiful." She looked up at him expectantly. "Show me something else."

Thorne peered up into the night sky. "Okay, you see those three stars close together, in a straight line?"

"Orion's Belt."

"Exactly. Orion's Belt is actually an asterism. It's a grouping of stars that makes up the bigger constellation of Orion. There's Saiph, Orion's right foot and Rigel, his left foot and the alpha star. Then there's his belt and Bellatrix, his left shoulder, and a much smaller star, Meissa as his head and then his right shoulder, Betelgeuse."

Cress laughed. "As in Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice?"

Thorne chuckled. "Actually, yeah." He focused the telescope onto the bright star and leaned back to let Cress look. "Betelgeuse is a red supergiant. It's so big that if it were our sun, it would extend all the way out to Jupiter."

"This is amazing, Thorne."

Thorne watched as Cress titled her head up towards the sky again and scanned it. Egged on by her enthusiasm, he scooted himself closer and began to point out other constellations to her. He pointed out his astrological sign, Gemini, and she laughed at the fact that the two figures were holding hands. Then Thorne laughed when Cress asked to see her sign, Cancer, and harrumphed, saying it looked like a big Y in the sky and nothing like a crab.

Cress liked Canis Major and Canis Minor and cooed when Thorne told her how they were Orion's dogs, who followed him everywhere. She was giddy when she could make out the shape of Lepus including it's two rabbit ears through Thorne's telescope.

"And then there's Winter Cress." Thorne closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip hard, cursing himself for getting carried away.

Cress turned to face him, excitement evident on her face. "What? There's a constellation named Cress?"

"Well …" Thorne rubbed the back of his neck, looking at a spot on the blanket intensely. "I kind of … made it up."

If Cress registered his uneasiness, she didn't acknowledge it. "How? Why?"

Thorne shrugged, still unable to bring himself to look at her. "I just made it up. It's just some stars that match your freckles."

Cress edged closer to him and even though they weren't touching, he could feel the warmth of her body next to his. "Show me."

Still avoiding her gaze, he spoke up. "Well, we can only see half of it right now, hence Winter Cress. The other half reveals itself in the spring and summer but … " Thorne looked up into the ink sky and located the first star. "There's Betelgeuse and Gomeisa." He swept his arm wide and pointed to another. "Then there's Capella—"

Cress laid a gentle hand onto Thorne's arm, bringing it down, and he finally turned to look at her. Her eyelashes dipped before a small smile spread on her lips. "No, Thorne.  _Show me_." She lifted her face towards him and closed her eyes.

Thorne gulped. "Well, there's the Milky Way," he said, brushing a delicate finger along the light freckles that splattered across Cress's cheeks and the bridge of her nose.

She giggled.

"Then, there's—there's Betelgeuse." Thorne touched the freckle that sat just below the outside corner of her left eye.

She whispered, "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice."

Thorne chuckled, instantly feeling more at ease. He drew his finger down to her cheek. "Then there's Gomeisa."

Cress smiled and Thorne swept his finger to the side of her nose. "Then there's Capella and Errai." He pointed to the third and fourth freckle, and then gulped before dipping his finger down to the right corner of her mouth, barely missing her lips. "And Omicron Draconis."

Thorne ran his hand down the delicate line of Cress's jaw. "Then there's Vega and one of the Alpha Herculis stars. And lastly," he swallowed hard before running the tip of his finger ever so gently down her throat to the little freckle just above the hollow. "There's Spica."

Cress's eyes fluttered open to look at him and he saw something familiar in them. Something he thought he'd never see, but there it was, even in the dim light of the kerosene lamp. Wanting. She closed her eyes again and before Thorne could register what was happening, he felt her lips on his. He froze.

In all the scenarios he had made up in his head of his first kiss, he could only hope and wish it would be with Cress and now here they were, surrounded by trees and stars and she had kissed him. He thought he could die at that very moment and regret nothing

Thorne felt Cress's lips coaxing his and the softness of them convinced him that they were going to melt into his at any moment, but before he could react, she pulled away. Thorne could see the flush on her cheeks and she kept her gaze on his mouth.

"Sorry, I—"

But her apology was interrupted by Thorne cupping her face in his hands and pulling her close. He pressed his lips against hers and felt her body lean into his. Eager to kiss her, his teeth clipped hers and she laughed against his lips, but didn't pull away.

Feeling like he was making a complete fool of himself, he tried to remember anything that he saw in the movies. Something to make Cress swoon. Thorne began to lift his hands up from her jaw to run through her hair. He felt Cress sigh against him and felt bolder, until the splint on his right hand snagged on Cress's hair pin and she laughed again.

She pulled away and helped Thorne untangle his fingers from her hair, smiling the whole time, while Thorne looked on with mortification. She laid Thorne's hand down onto her lap and brought her hand up to pull the pin out. She twirled it in her fingers and Thorne watched how it sparkled in the dim night before she tucked it into the front pocket of his shirt.

"For safe keeping."

Thorne expected Cress to pull away then, but she didn't. She rested her hand on his chest and a calmness rolled over him. She smiled at him again, nodded her head, and then Thorne had his mouth on hers. He tasted salt and sweetness and wondered if it was from the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or if it was just Cress. He felt the very tip of Cress's tongue run along his upper lip and he shuddered. He pressed deeper, full of need. He gasped for air and heard Cress do the same before their lips crashed into each other's again and Thorne kissed the corner of Cress's mouth and felt Cress tug at his bottom lip.

He felt dizzy and euphoric. He felt like he could float away and clung onto her in case he did. He felt Cress's fingertips against the back of his neck, making their way up through his hair and his whole body erupted in goosebumps. He could feel the urgency in her kiss and returned it tenfold. With a contented sigh, Cress finally pulled away, but Thorne reached further for one last peck.

Cress laughed again, and rested her forehead against Thorne's. His heart was threatening to burst out of his chest and all he could hear was his pulse and all he could feel was Cress's fingertips and all he could see were the pools of her eyes and he felt like he was drowning.

"Cress?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."


	12. Chapter 12

"Cress?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

The words had come out as a whisper and Thorne sucked in a breath. He hadn't meant to say it, but he was caught up in the perfect date—the perfect kiss—and now that the words had tumbled out of his mouth, he wondered if Cress had heard him.

He counted six heartbeats. Six heartbeats and then Cress pulled away and let out a soft laugh.

"That was pretty amazing wasn't it?"

Maybe she hadn't heard him after all and he should have left it at that, but the kiss had made him feel invincible. Now that he had said those words out loud and in front of her, he couldn't just pretend it didn't happen.

"Cress."

It took her a moment to meet his gaze.

"I  _love_  you."

"Oh." She sighed and cast her eyes down onto her lap. The anguish in her voice, in just one word, made him feel hollow.

Thorne reached for her hand and she let him take it, but the familiar warmth and tenderness he was so accustomed to wasn't there. The hand he was now holding was rigid and stiff.

"Cress?"

"Listen, Thorne. I like you, I do, but you can't love me. You  _shouldn't_  love me. I don't believe in love."

Thorne looked at her slack-jawed. "You don't believe in love? But…but…you read Keats."

Cress laughed, but it was weary. "Keats died penniless and alone, hundreds of miles away from someone he claimed to have loved."

"But—"

"Look. Please don't take it personally. This has nothing to do with you. Honestly, I wouldn't even know what love looked like, even if it … " Cress trailed off when she finally met his eyes again, and he was convinced she was able to see the agony etched on his face. "I like you Thorne. I do. It's just that …"

"You don't love me."

Cress looked away again.

"Could never love me." Thorne's words were barely a whisper. He dragged his uninjured hand down his face and wondered how he could have gone from incredibly blissful to devastatingly miserable in the span of five minutes.

"Here." Cress handed him a bottle of water. "This will make you feel better."

He took it from her, but he doubted anything would have been able to make him feel better. "What—what about Cinder and Kai? Scarlet and Wolf? They love each other." Thorne could hear the desperation in his voice and he nearly cringed at himself.

Cress sighed. "They're all in high school. They probably won't even end up in the same colleges. They'll try to make it work, but then they'll end up breaking up anyways. People always leave."

"But, Cress…" Thorne made to take Cress's hand again, but this time she pulled away.

"Kai's mom died when he was a baby. Cinder only has a cruel stepmother and Wolf only has Maha. Both of Scarlet's parents abandoned her and that's why she lives with her grandmother. My…" She paused when her breath hitched. "When I was twelve my dad got sick. Really sick, and instead of taking care of him, my mom abandoned him. Abandoned me. She promised to love him, but she just left. Disappeared into the night."

Thorne didn't know what to say. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to wake up one day to find his mom had left. Maybe he would feel like Cress did now—that promises of love didn't mean anything if you could make them in front of friends and family and then abandon them entirely. Thorne balled up his fists. But it didn't matter, not to him. He knew how much he loved Cress in his heart and his body and he wanted her to know it too.

"Cress, I—"

Cress shook her head, then shifted and began reaching for things to pack back into the cooler. "It's getting late. We should head back."

Thorne watched, bewildered, as Cress began to pack up everything and paused when she got to the telescope.

"I'll—I'll do that." His throat feeling like sandpaper. He took a sip of the water.

Thorne focused on disassembling the telescope and avoided making eye contact with Cress, but he figured that she would be avoiding him too. They worked in silence and when Thorne had packed everything up in the back of the Jeep, he found that Cress was already sitting in the passenger seat, waiting for him to take her home.

The car ride back was complete torture for Thorne. Even with the radio turned up, Cress's silence was deafening. He casually placed his hand on the middle console, hoping Cress would take it, but she didn't. She was busy twisting her fingers into her short locks as she looked out of her window. Thorne found a small bit of comfort when he realized she was looking up at the stars.

When Thorne pulled up in front of her house, Cress finally turned to him. "Thank you for…for taking me home. You don't need to walk me to the door."

"No, I insist." Thorne's voice was gentle and he was relieved when she gave him a small smile and nodded her head.

Thorne had hoped that she would take his hand then, but she didn't. He couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment in his chest, but when his hand accidentally brushed hers as they climbed the steps, he thought she might have let her fingers linger against his, even for just a moment.

Thorne waited as Cress unlocked her door. He racked his brain for something to say to make things better, but he was at a loss for words.

"Goodnight, Thorne." Cress's voice was soft.

"Goodnight, Cress."

She stood there for a moment, not meeting his eyes. Thorne thought she may have been looking at his lips and a surge of hope coursed through him, but then she slipped inside the house without another word. Thorne stood there numbly until the porch light turned off and washed him in darkness. He sighed, making his way back to his car and home.

He was glad to see that his parents weren't waiting for him when he got there. The last thing he needed was for them to ask him how the date had gone. He had already replayed it over and over in his head during the drive from Cress's house. He replayed the stargazing, the kiss—the perfect, ground shattering, heaven splitting kiss—and then it became a complete jumble of confusion after that.

Up until his confession, everything had been perfect. Cress liked him, she had even said so herself, and she had kissed him. She had told him it was an amazing kiss, but she had also told him not to love her. How could she not believe in love? Was that what Kai had meant when he said she was a heartbreaker? Had other people confessed their love to her, only to be rejected, too?

Thorne shook his head. No, he wasn't like those other guys. Of course Cress couldn't believe in love when she only experienced it through jerks like Julian, but Thorne was patient and he knew they were destined to have a great, epic romance. He had made a mistake by confessing his love for her—he realized it then, but it didn't change how he felt about her. He would wait for her. He would take things slow. Show her what real love looked like.

All Cress needed was time and Thorne could give it to her.

Resolved, Thorne changed into his pajamas to get ready for bed. As he shook out his clothes before placing them into the hamper, Cress's silver hair pin fell out of his shirt pocket. He bent down to pick it up and the rhinestone-studded star shimmered as it caught the light of his bedside lamp. He climbed into bed and twirled the hair pin back and forth between his fingers, recalling the memory of Cress performing the same movements just a couple of hours ago and the way it sparkled in the light of the kerosene lamp.

* * *

The next day, when his parents asked him about the date at breakfast, Thorne mumbled something about it going well and made an excuse about having homework before hurrying back upstairs. Afraid they would press him further on the issue, he kept himself locked up in his room the rest of the day. With nothing better to do, he read  _Bright Star_  over and over again and wondered how Cress couldn't see all the love and passion in it. Or maybe she had, but didn't believe it could be real. He was determined to show her it was.

He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew, he was startled awake by his phone buzzing on his nightstand. Curious to see who would be calling him, he looked at the phone and dropped it onto the bed when Cress's name flashed on the screen. He hesitated. He hadn't expected to hear from her and even though he had wanted to call her twenty times that day, he had to remind himself to give her space. Three more rings went by and he finally answered.

His heart pounded when he raised the phone to his ear. "H-hello?" He hated that he had just woken up and his voice was scratchy.

"Hi, Thorne. It's Cress. I didn't think … I thought maybe you wouldn't answer."

Thorne cleared his throat, but his words still sounded rough. "Hey."

He heard a soft intake of breath. "Um. I—I just wanted to thank you for taking me out on a wonderful date. I should have told you last night. I'm sorry I didn't." She paused. "I still have your roses and I don't feel right keeping them after—"

Thorne had not expected her to try and return her roses and it made his chest hurt. He closed his eyes and sighed. He was relieved when his voice came out calm and gentle. "No, you should keep them. I got them for you, Cress."

"Thank you." There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "I know you must be really upset with me right now, but I hope we can still be friends."

"Fr—friends?" The word caught in his throat and his heart dropped. He would have been okay being Cress's friend before everything, but now that he knew she had liked him and had wanted that kiss just as much as he did, he just didn't understand why they couldn't be together.

"Yes. I don't want to lose your friendship just because things didn't work out."

"If I took back everything I said, would you change your mind?"

Cress sighed. "It wouldn't be fair."

"What's not fair is that you like me and I like you and we're not together."

"But you don't just like me." She sounded pained and Thorne felt like a hand was closing around his heart. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." Thorne fidgeted with the hem of his duvet. "I should—I should go."

"Oh. Okay." Cress paused. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Sure." Unlike their first phone conversation, Thorne didn't wait for Cress to hang up. He turned off his phone and buried himself under the covers. He dreaded the thought of going to school the next day and facing Cress, facing his friends. He had to correct himself. Who was he kidding, they were all  _her_  friends.

Thorne felt something poke him when he pushed his face into his pillows and buried his hands deeper under the covers. He reached for the object and pulled out Cress's silver hair pin. He twirled it once in his fingers, letting it catch the light of his bedside lamp before clutching it in the palm of his hand and letting the tears fall.

He woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. The whole house was silent and when he checked his alarm clock, a dull digital 05:14AM greeted him. Thorne sighed and pulled himself out of bed. He went to the bathroom to wash his face. When he examined himself in the mirror, he was surprised to see that he didn't look any different. He thought he would be looking at an entirely new face, one he wouldn't have been able to recognized, but aside from the rim of red around his tired eyes, he was staring at the same reflection he always had before.

He hated it.

He didn't think he should still look the same when his heart was torn in two. He didn't feel like he was the same person—not when he felt like a thousand knives had been plunged into his stomach and Cress was the one who drove each blade into him. The thought made him wince.

Thorne sighed and shuffled back to his bed. He lay there, staring at the ceiling, waiting for his alarm to go off and thought of how he could avoid Cress at school.

* * *

Two hours later, Thorne sat in his Jeep and watched as students and faculty made their way into the school. He hoped to avoid Cress and the whole Rampion crew that morning and was glad when he spotted their cars in the parking lot. They were all already inside and he didn't have to risk them seeing him. Thorne sat and waited for the hands on his watch to click to 7:20 A.M. until he finally heard the first period bell ring.

He got out of his car and slowly made his way to the brick building. This would be the first time in his entire life that he was tardy, but he preferred that over the possibility of running into Cress in the hallway that morning. He had to give Cress her hair pin back and he thought he could avoid her entirely if he could just slip it into her locker.

Thorne was glad to see that no one was roaming the hallways when he finally made it inside. He quickly jogged to his locker and grabbed the books he needed. His palms were sweaty when he made his way to Cress's locker. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the hair pin and the piece of paper stuck to it. He had agonized over what to write to her and had gone through nearly twenty slips of paper before settling on simply writing out her name. He caressed the little star with the pad of his thumb before closing his eyes and stuffing it through the slot in the teal locker.

"What are you doing?"

Thorne spun around. "Aces, Kate! You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days."

Kate smiled apologetically. "Sorry, but what were you doing? And why aren't you in class?"

Thorne wiped at his brow. Even though there was nothing to wipe away, he was comforted by the gesture. "I had something of Cress's. I was just returning it."

Kate nodded. "How did your date go?"

"Why aren't  _you_  in class?"

Kate laughed when her and Thorne spoke at the same time, but stopped when she saw Thorne cast his eyes downwards.

"I have first period office aide. You should get to class, you're already tardy." Kate paused. "Unless…"

Thorne looked up to see Kate tapping a finger against her chin.

"Follow me." She turned around and Thorne had to jog to catch up to her.

Kate made Thorne stand outside the door while she slipped inside the office. He was convinced one of the hall monitors would be rounding the corner any minute and he would actually be in real trouble.

When Thorne started to panic, Kate finally came out. She handed him an orange slip of paper with a loopy blue signature.

"It's a tardy slip. Now you'll be off the hook."

Thorne's eyes bulged. "I can't take this. You can't be forging someone's signature on things!"

Kate laughed. "It's my signature. No one's going to pay attention anyway. Come on. I'll walk you to your class."

As they made their way to Thorne's physics class, Thorne played with the piece of paper to give himself something to do. He didn't know why he was compelled to tell Kate, but before he knew it, he was telling her about his date with Cress.

"…And now I'm trying to avoid her." He gulped. "Because I'm pathetic."

Kate stopped walking and contemplated the ground. When she looked up, she laid a hand on Thorne's arm. "I'm really sorry. And you're not pathetic."

The look on her face made Thorne really believe her, and he nodded appreciatively. "I just, feel like a complete fool and what's worse is, she said she liked me, but we can't be together? That doesn't make sense."

Kate pursed her lips. "Sure it does."

Thorne looked at her quizzically.

"Maybe she's afraid of disappointing you."

Thorne opened his mouth to say something, but Kate raised her hand to stop him.

"Just think about it. How would you feel if someone professed their love for you and you weren't expecting it? Especially if that person was smart and sweet and kind. It's a tough situation to be in, for  _both_  of you."

Thorne chewed on his bottom lip and Kate chuckled. She gestured to the closed door and Thorne nodded.

"Thanks, Kate."

"Sure." She patted him on the shoulder. She turned around to head back to the front office.

Thorne watched her go and thought about what she had said. It all made sense. The logical part of his brain knew it, but it still didn't stop the ache in his chest, and he felt even more pathetic for it. He had thought loving Cress silently was the worst heartache, but he realized he had been entirely wrong.


	13. Chapter 13

"You're kidding!" Kate practically squealed as she grabbed Thorne's hand.

He winced when she squeezed a little too firmly on his splinted fingers.

"Whoops. Sorry." She looked abashed, but when Thorne gave her a reassuring smile that he was okay, she reached for her sketchbook excitedly.

Thorne leaned over her shoulder to try and catch what she was drawing, but she blocked his view and nudged him away with her elbow.

"I'll let you see in a minute."

Thorne righted himself and tapped his splint on the counter.

"That's not helping." Kate eyed him for a second before returning to her sketchbook, hunching even further.

Thorne let out a soft chuckle and slipped off of the stool he was sitting on. He made a slow lap around the bookshop, straightening book spines on the shelves as he passed by. It was the fourth day that week he had accompanied Kate to the bookstore after school. He had found that his loneliness was much more bearable when he wasn't actually alone.

When he got to the poetry section, he couldn't help but linger. He knew exactly where the K's were and ran his thumb against the spine of the last copy of  _Complete Poems of John Keats_. He knew it was silly to pine after Cress, especially when he was the one avoiding her, but he just couldn't bring himself to face her. It was still all too raw, too painful.

He had been successful avoiding her and her friends that first Monday back until the last period bell rang. He had known it was going to be difficult to make it out of the school without passing Cress's locker, but when he finally saw her standing there in the hallway, he couldn't have predicted how tight his chest was going to feel or how quickly the heat would rise up his neck.

He shoved his books into his backpack and tried to blend into the crowd as he made his way down the hall. He kept his head down and his eyes fixed on his shoes, but even then, he was nearly six inches taller than most of the crowd shuffling towards the parking lot and slouching would only do so much. When he neared her locker, he noticed that Cress wasn't talking to her friends. In fact, she was standing a few feet away from them, clutching one of her textbooks, and looking for someone.

When he passed by her, he thought she had called his name, but he buried his face even lower and pretended to look for something in his backpack. He walked by without saying a single word or even acknowledging that he saw her. He hated himself for being so cruel, but before he could get out of earshot, a deep voice spoke up from behind him.

"Hey, Cress."

"Hi Kinney," she replied.

Thorne nodded his head in resignation. That was all the confirmation he needed. She wasn't looking for him and even if she were, how could he compete with the school's quarterback? Thorne had already been rejected once; he didn't think he could live through another one. He definitely couldn't face her then, and maybe not ever again.

He must have looked completely pathetic walking to his car because when he ran into Kate in the parking lot, she invited him to come to the bookshop with her. She worked evenings there and insisted it was a perfect place to get their homework done since it was usually quiet. Grateful again for Kate's friendship, Thorne agreed.

"Okay! You can come see now!" Kate called out from the front.

Thorne made his way over to her and found her clutching her sketchbook to her chest, a large beaming smile across her face. Thorne couldn't help but smile too.

"Ready?"

Thorne nodded.

"Tada!" Kate pushed the sketchbook into Thorne's hands and he looked down.

The two of them had been brainstorming all week on a new window display for the bookstore but nothing had come close to topping Kate's hot air balloon display. They had been talking about it all afternoon and when Kate brought up books about shipwrecks and the high seas, Thorne told her about the Rampion. Looking down at her drawing, it seems as though Kate had really liked the idea.

"I think I can build a curved and tiered bookshelf to line books on and make it look like a splashing wave. We'll cover a pedestal for the Rampion to make it look like it's navigating the high seas." Her voice got higher and higher as she got more excited. "Oh! And we can turn books into sea creatures!"

Thorne rubbed the back of his neck, slightly hesitant. "I dunno Kate, it's just that…that ship is really important and…"

"Oh, come on. Please?"

Thorne knit his eyebrows as Kate drew out her plea.

"I promise it'll be safe." Kate's eager brown eyes met his and she looked so excited that he couldn't say no.

He sighed. "Okay…but it's missing something."

Kate was practically dancing, but stopped to consider him. "What?"

Thorne tapped his thumb against his lips as he looked at Kate's drawings and it dawned on him. "You can't navigate the high seas without the stars."

* * *

The next day was a Friday and Thorne stood at his locker when the last bell rang, stuffing books into his backpack as usual, when someone walked up to him.

"Just give me a second, Kate," he said with his head buried in his locker.

"It's not Kate," came a familiar female voice.

Thorne turned around slowly and rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding the girl's gaze. "Hey Cinder."

"Hey yourself." She crossed her arms over her chest and Thorne took an instinctive step backwards, but jumped when he hit his locker.

"Um…what's up?" he asked, avoiding her steely gaze.

Cinder sighed and let her arms fall. "Are you okay?"

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" Thorne finally met her eyes and he was surprised to see genuine concern.

"Well, we know what happened and you've been avoiding all of us."

Thorne nodded, but when he didn't say anything, Cinder pushed on.

"We really meant it, you know. When we said we're you're friends. You don't have to avoid us. Cress…Cress doesn't want you to avoid us."

"Cress doesn't want a lot of things." He hated that he sounded so bitter just then.

Cinder paused a moment. "Well, Cress  _does_  want to be your friend, and so do we. I get it, I do, but you don't have to shut us out. We don't want you to."

Cinder was right of course; Cress did want to be his friend. She had texted him Monday night to thank him for returning her hair pin and to see how he was doing. He had replied, telling her that he was busy with homework and when she followed up with a encouragement, he couldn't bring himself to answer. He had half-hoped that she would say goodnight, but was disappointed when she didn't. He knew he had only himself to blame for that.

Cress had continued to greet him in the hallways when she saw him at school, but Thorne had not been able to manage anything more than a nod or a simple hi in return and never met her eyes. By Thursday afternoon she had stopped any attempts to talk to him. He thought that was what he wanted, to be able to forget about her, but it had only made him feel worse.

He knew he was being unfair. Cress was being nothing but nice to him after everything, but his heart was still broken and he selfishly thought that if he could finally get over her, then he would have to resign himself to the fact that she wouldn't love him. He wasn't ready for that yet, but seeing Cinder stand in front of him now, he realized that he was also being unfair to her and the rest of the group. They had continued to be friendly towards him, but their association to Cress was just too hard for him to ignore. He didn't feel right giving them the cold shoulder, but it was the only way he was able to manage the ache in his heart.

Thorne nodded, deciding that it was time for him to stop avoiding the Rampion crew. "Thanks."

"You should come to the football game with us tonight. Pizza at Maha's afterwards too. You're always welcome."

"Thanks, but…I already have plans." He wondered if Cinder really believed him or if it just sounded like an excuse. Just then, Kate walked up.

"Hey Thorne, you ready?"

Cinder gave Kate a look. It wasn't unfriendly, but Thorne could tell that she was sizing her up. For what? Thorne didn't know, but he instantly felt uncomfortable again.

"Hi Cinder," Kate said.

"Hey. Kate, right?"

Kate nodded and smiled, then turned to Thorne with a raised eyebrow.

Thorne cleared his throat. "Right. Thanks Cinder, I'll see you around."

"Okay. Just…think about what I said."

Thorne gave Cinder a weak wave as she turned around and made her way back to her locker. Thankfully only Kai was there and Thorne wondered if he had witnessed their conversation.

"You ready?" Kate asked again, bringing Thorne's attention back to her.

"Yeah." He slammed his locker shut and they made their way towards his Jeep and to their brainstorming session on how to build the ambitious new window display.

* * *

The next morning, Thorne woke up at 6:00 A.M. to pick Kate up so they could go shopping for all of the supplies on Kate's detailed shopping list. She had also insisted that they needed to meet up early for a hearty breakfast at the diner across from the hardware store.

After filling up on way too many waffles drenched in syrup, they made their way across the street to pick up their supplies. Thorne was glad that Kate knew exactly what type of wood they needed to build her structures and was more than happy to let her do the talking as he pushed their flat cart around. When they were in the art supply store, he liked looking at all the different tubes of paint and marveled at all the different kinds of brushes. Thorne usually bought his supplies at the model shop and was amazed at the variety in front of him. Kate had to physically pull him away from the pen section as he examined pens imported from Japan. He made a mental note to return some day.

By the time they made it back to the bookstore, it was well past noon and Thorne was glad that Kate had forced him to share that second serving of waffles with her. They took a quick sandwich break and Thorne was offended to learn that Kate liked chunky peanut butter. He refused to listen to her reasons and they laughed until they were both gasping for air.

When it was time to build their wood structure, Thorne pulled his Jeep into the back alley behind the bookstore and they unloaded all their supplies. Thorne began to feel useless when he stood by and watched as Kate used a hand-saw to cut the 2x4's and the particle board needed for the bookshelves. With his hand still in a splint, all he could do was hold down the lumber while Kate operated the machinery. He silently thought it was probably the best move since it was obvious she knew what she was doing.

While Kate worked on nailing the structure together and giving it a coat of blue paint, Thorne was relegated to punching stars out of silver glitter card stock with a fancy star-shaped hole puncher that they had gotten at the art supply store. He also strung them with lengths of thin silver ribbon and he mused again about Kate's mysterious ribbon supply.

After they had finished their tasks and as they waited for the paint to dry on Kate's shelves, they made a trip back to Thorne's house to retrieve the Rampion. He appreciated how delicate Kate was being with the model ship as she helped him carry it out of the garage and loaded it into his Jeep.

As Thorne strapped the Rampion into it's harness, he thought about how odd it was that just two months ago, he had spent all of his free time alone with his model ship. It wasn't until his chance meeting with Cress at the park that he had swapped time with the Rampion with time with actual friends. He had decided the night before, after his conversation with Cinder, that he couldn't avoid the Rampion crew any longer and he had began to miss their company. It almost made him laugh out loud when he realized that most of his friends were pretty girls. He glanced over at Kate who smiled back at him.

He hadn't thought about it much up to that point, but looking at her now, he did find her attractive. Kate was taller than most of the girls at school, definitely taller than Cress and maybe even an inch or two taller than Cinder. She had thick, dark brown hair that she usually clipped back with a pin or pulled into a ponytail which made it impossible not to notice her warm brown eyes. She had olive skin and a small dimple in her chin that Thorne found quite charming. She was the complete opposite of Cress and Thorne didn't know what to make of it.

"Ready?" Thorne asked her when he was done strapping the Rampion in. She nodded, flashing him a bright smile.

They made their way back to the bookstore to finish their display.

* * *

It must have been the hundredth star he hung to the ceiling and Thorne's arm was getting sore. He and Kate had worked furiously to get the display set up for all the Saturday evening strollers that liked to wander the main street. It had taken some impressive maneuvering between them to get the Rampion positioned just right, but even Thorne was impressed at how nice it looked against the backdrop that Kate had built. They were now hanging the last of the stars and the more they added, the more excited Kate got.

There had already been a couple of people that evening that had come by and tapped on the window as they worked, giving approving nods and thumbs up. A lot of those people Thorne had recognized from school and he returned their waves, still not used to the attention he had been getting. He had expected to be the laughing stock of the school after the date with Cress, but there was no word of it. He had wondered if Cress had anything to do with the lack of gossip and was grateful for it either way.

When Thorne hung the last star, he clapped his hands excitedly and turned to Kate, hoping for one last squeal of excitement. She had been working behind him, perched on a ladder and adjusting the stars she was hanging, but instead of looking happy, she looked concerned.

Thorne realized she was looking past him and slowly turned around to look out of the bay window and on to the street. He didn't hear Kate's attempt to stop him before it was too late. His smile froze on his face when he met Cress's eyes looking back at him.

The combination of the street lamp outside, the window and the lights inside made Cress's face glow and the stars that hung above his head reflected back at him, making it look like Cress was surrounded by them. The memory of seeing that framed photo of a baby Cress asleep under glittering stars flashed in Thorne's head for a moment and his heart began to race.

Cress blinked and Thorne snapped out of his trance. She tilted her head upwards and someone leaned in to say something to her. Thorne's stomach plummeted when he saw that it was Kinney. They weren't holding hands, but it was evident that they were on a date. Cress was wearing a soft pink dress underneath a jean jacket and Kinney's fingers were hovering close to her wrist.

Thorne watched as Cress's gaze fell first onto Kate, then lingered on the Rampion, and then turned back up towards him. She gave him a small smile and a wave and her smile turned into a wide, genuine grin that revealed her dimples when Thorne waved back. The sight made his heart tense, but ease immediately.

It was the first time since the night of their date that he had really looked at her and it made his cheeks flush. Along with deciding he couldn't avoid Cinder, Kai, Wolf, and Scarlet forever, he knew that he couldn't avoid Cress forever either. Seeing her standing in front of him with Kinney, he realized that there was nothing he could do. She had decided to move on, and now he had to too. He wasn't entirely sure he could do it—his heart still raced when she saw her—but he had to try.

Cress gave him another small wave before turning to walk away. Thorne took a deep breath to steady himself, hopped off of the window display platform and jogged outside to catch up with her.

"Cress! Cress, wait."

Cress turned around, almost surprised to see him. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Hi, Thorne."

"Hey, man," Kinney greeted him.

"Hi," Thorne replied, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "Um, Cress, can I talk to you for a second?" He turned to Kinney apologetically. "This will only take a moment."

Cress nodded and turned to Kinney.

"Sure. I'll just be over there…" Kinney gestured with his thumb and walked to the end of the block to give them some privacy.

Cress opened her mouth to say something, but Thorne interrupted her. "Cress, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've been avoiding you. I'm sorry I've been avoiding Cinder and Kai and Wolf and Scarlet. I really want us to still be friends, if you still want to."

Cress reached for his hand, but stopped herself. "Of course I want to. I'm sorry too, you know, about everything. But you don't have to apologize. I know things have been difficult. They have been for me too, but…" Her voice trailed as though she was trying to find the right words.

"We both have to move on," Thorne offered.

It took her a minute to look him in the eye. "Right." She glanced at the window display behind Thorne. "The display looks beautiful. The Rampion looks really great in there."

"I'm glad my quartermaster approves."

A grin spread across Cress's lips. "We missed you yesterday—at the football game and at Maha's. She asked about you."

"I never thought I'd say this, but I missed going to the football games with you guys too." Thorne rubbed the back of his neck.

Cress let out her tinkling laugh. "You should come with us next week. To Homecoming. To the game and the…dance. You and Kate." She gestured towards the window.

Thorne glanced back and saw Kate, still up on the ladder, adjusting a star that was hanging a bit too low. He suspected that she was watching them out of the corner of her eye. "Umm…yeah. Sure. I mean, I'll have to double check with her, but I'll let you know."

Cress nodded. "Of course. I better get back to Kinney."

"Right. Enjoy the rest of your date." Thorne thought he saw Cress bite her bottom lip, but when she smiled and waved bye to him, he decided it was just a trick of the light. He watched as Cress caught up with Kinney and had to turn away when Kinney took her hand.

Thorne slowly made his way back inside the bookstore and even though Kate was busying herself with the display, he knew she was dying to know what had happened. He told her about Cress's invite and she pondered it for a moment.

"That could be fun." She smiled, then sat up straight. "I mean, if you wanted to go."

Thorne had not thought about going to Homecoming with Kate. He had not thought about going to Homecoming, period, but seeing the smile on Kate's face, now, the idea didn't seem so absurd.

"Sure. I mean…if you do." A warmth began to crawl up Thorne's neck and he had to rub the back of it to keep the blush at bay. Was he really asking Kate to Homecoming?

Kate threw her head back in a laugh and Thorne was afraid she was going to topple off the ladder. When she righted herself, she smirked. "Okay."


	14. Chapter 14

While waiting for his first period class to begin, Thorne pulled out a small leather-bound notebook from his backpack and began to sketch a new model ship design he had be working on. After seeing the Rampion displayed in the window of the bookstore, he had come up with some modifications that he thought would make the ship look even sleeker and possibly make it glide even better in the water.

As people began to file into the room, he quickly stuffed his notebook back into his bag. Even though many people continued to be friendly towards him, he was pretty sure they would still think he was a complete dork if they saw him sketching out ship designs and doing calculations in a notebook designated specifically for those kinds of things. A couple of people said hi to him as they made their way to their own seats and he returned their greetings, still baffled by the novelty of being popular.

A chime dinged in the overhead speakers and Thorne slumped into his chair as the morning announcements began. The student council officers took turns rattling off reminders for school play auditions and club meetings. Then it was Kai's turn, as student body president, to remind everyone about Homecoming tickets and the dance. As Thorne listened, his thoughts wandered back to his sketches and he wondered how difficult it would be to implement them into the Rampion's current design. He'd hate to have to rebuild the hull.

"…And finally, Homecoming court nominations are in. For Homecoming princess, the nominees are Blakely Shannon and Elia Conner. For Homecoming prince, the nominees are Jules Keller and Ryan Doughty. The nominees for Homecoming queen are Luisa Smith and—" Thorne could almost hear the smile on Kai's lips. "—Crescent Darnel, and lastly, the nominees for Homecoming king are Liam Kinney and Carswell Thorne."

There was a rustle in the room as people shifted in their seats to look at Thorne. He would have thought he had misheard Kai if it had not been for the twenty-four pairs of eyes on him right at that moment. He sat up in his seat and rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding everyone's gaze. He hoped he could rub away the redness that he could feel creeping up.

"Students can cast their votes during their lunch periods all this week. Good luck nominees." Kai finished his announcement, but Thorne did not hear a single word after his name had been called. He was too busy wondering who in the world would have nominated him for Homecoming king.

* * *

Thorne thought he was finally getting used to people greeting him in the hallway or in the school's parking lot, but if he had thought that was unsettling in the beginning, nothing could have prepared him for the attention he got after that morning's announcement. Now it seemed like people were going out of their way to come and say hi to him and he found that on a couple of occasions, it was hard to get to class on time. By lunchtime, word had also gotten out that it was Thorne's ship displayed in the bookstore's window and the people who had seen it over the weekend made a point to compliment him about it to his surprise and amusement.

When the lunch bell rang, Thorne waited for Kate by his locker so that they could walk to the soccer field and spend their lunch period together. They usually ate in silence as they read their respective books or worked on homework, but Thorne had found comfort in the routine.

"Is that the Homecoming king? Your majesty." Kate curtsied as she stopped in front of Thorne.

"Don't tease." He watched as Kate righted herself. "Besides, I'm not king yet and I won't be."

Kate shrugged. "You never know."

Thorne was just about to say that he did know he wasn't going to end up being king, but Kai walked by and interrupted their conversation.

"Hi Kate. Hey Thorne. Congrats on the Homecoming nomination."

"Thanks." Thorne blushed. It was one thing to have Kate tease him, but another thing entirely to have Kai acknowledge that this was something that was actually happening.

"Sure. I'm on my way to the cafeteria. Do you wanna have lunch with us?" His smile was warm and encouraging.

"Uhhh…" Thorne's eyes shifted to Kate. Just yesterday, they had had a conversation about Thorne's friendship with Kai and the others and how Thorne had truly begun to miss them. Knowing Kate, she would think this was a great opportunity for them to reconnect.

"That sounds great," Kate answered and practically pulled Thorne away from his locker by his elbow to follow Kai.

When they made it to the Rampion crew's usual lunch table, everyone was already gathered around including Kinney, who had taken a seat next to Cress. Thorne swallowed as he and Kate took the two open chairs across from them.

"Look who I found," Kai said as he sat down in the seat that Cinder was saving for him.

Everyone was happy to see Thorne and he made introductions between Kate and the rest of the group. When he got to Kinney, he stumbled, but Kinney didn't seem to have noticed.

"Congrats on the Homecoming nomination. May the best man win?" His voice was smooth and good-natured and he grinned as he held a hand out to Thorne.

Thorne's eyes flickered to Cress for a millisecond and thought to himself that Kinney had already won. Still, he took Kinney's hand and shook, making sure to give Kinney's hand a firm squeeze. "Thanks. To be honest, I don't even know who would even nominate me."

Kai shrugged as if people were looking at him for answers. "It's all anonymous. I couldn't even tell you if I wanted to, but you have to have at least two student nominations and a faculty nomination to be eligible."

"Who wouldn't want to nominate you?" Cress asked, flashing her dimpled grin. "You did beat up Julian in front of the whole school. How's your hand by the way?"

"It's—it's okay."

Cress nodded and turned back to her sandwich.

The table broke out in small conversations and Kate and Cress even had a quick discussion about their calculus class. Cress was expressing her frustration with anti-derivatives and Thorne remembered the day at the park when he had helped her with her homework.

"I can help you if you want," Thorne offered.

"Really?" Cress's eyes lit up.

Thorne rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I mean…me and Kate do our homework together after school anyway. You could come by." Thorne turned to Kate to make sure it was okay.

"Yes, of course. You're more than welcome to come," Kate confirmed.

Cress twisted her fingers in her hair and bit her lip. "Thanks. But maybe…I should try and figure it out for myself first."

Thorne nodded. After the suggestion had come out of his mouth, he almost regretted it. Not that he didn't want to help Cress, but the thought of him being alone with both Kate and Cress made his cheeks feel warm. Even though he was relieved when Cress declined the offer, he couldn't help but feel a flicker of disappointment as well.

Thorne fiddled with the crust on his sandwich and listened as the conversation at the table then drifted towards the upcoming Homecoming game against East Commons's rival, Blackburn High. Wolf and Kinney talked strategy and Kai made so many comments and suggestions about plays that Thorne found it surprising he wasn't on the team himself. They brought up Blackburn High's ruthless linebacker, Jerrico Solis, and Cress made the boys promise to be careful.

Thorne smiled to himself when Wolf laid one of his gigantic hands on her head reassuringly and she huffed.

As the lunch hour dwindled down, Cress glanced at her watch and stood up.

Kinney reached for her hand. "Where are you going? The bell hasn't rung yet."

"I'm gonna go vote for Homecoming court." She winked.

Kinney smiled as if the rest of them weren't there and brought Cress's hand to his lips, pressing a kiss onto her knuckles. He stood up. "I'll come with you."

Cress blushed and hurriedly waved bye to the rest of the group. Thorne involuntarily clenched his fist under the table and then felt Kate lay a gentle hand onto his.

* * *

"Come on, Thorne, just check a box already." Kate's voice was impatient and she began to tap her foot as she hitched up her backpack.

Thorne knit his eyebrows and chewed on his bottom lip as the tip of his ballpoint pen hovered above the box next to his name. They must have already been standing there for five minutes and yet Thorne still couldn't make a decision.

It had taken all week, but Kate finally managed to talk Thorne into voting for Homecoming court. It was a no brainer that he was going to vote for Cress, but he felt torn when he had to vote for king. He felt awkward voting for himself, but when he tried to vote for Kinney, he found that his hand just wouldn't let him check Kinney's box. Kate told him to leave both boxes blank, but that didn't feel right either.

Kate gave his shoulder another poke. "I gotta go meet Mr. Deshel about my English paper."

Thorne nodded without taking his eyes off the ballot in his hand. "Go on, I'll catch up with you after school."

A pause. "You sure?"

Thorne finally looked up to meet Kate's eyes. "Yeah."

She raised her eyebrow at him for a second, but her shoulders eased when he smiled. Thorne knew Kate was being protective of him. After Kinney had kissed Cress's hand that Monday at the lunch table, she had pulled her hand away embarrassed, but it had made Thorne regret being there to witness it. The rest of the week, Thorne had made excuses on why he couldn't join the Rampion crew at their lunch table and Kate had kept her mouth shut and followed along.

Thorne eyed her now and shooed her away. Kate shrugged and turned to make her way down the corridor, but not before calling out, "Meet you at your locker after school."

Not one to raise his voice indoors, Thorne just waved at her again and turned his attention back to the ballot in his hands. He knew he was being silly for taking so long to deliberate. He sucked in a quick breath and squeezed his eyes shut before marking a big X in the box next to his name. He hurriedly stuffed the slip of paper in the ballot box, thanked the girl manning the table, and shuffled away.

He glanced down at his watch to see how much time he had left and wondered if he should make his way out onto the soccer field for lunch. Off in the distance, he heard his name being called over the chatter of the cafeteria.

Thorne turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw that Kai had been calling his name and waving him over. Thorne hesitated, but a quick scan of the lunch table showed that both Kinney and Wolf were missing. He tentatively made his way over to Kai and the girls.

"I'm so glad I saw you. I was beginning to feel outnumbered here," Kai said with a grin as he clapped a hand onto Thorne's shoulder. He raised his eyebrows at the girls and they all rolled their eyes at him.

"Where's Wolf and…Kinney?" Thorne asked, taking the empty seat next to Kai.

"They had an emergency team meeting," Scarlet answered, twirling a bright red curl around her finger.

Thorne nodded, not knowing what to add to that.

"You're still coming right? To the game with us?" Cress asked. She was sitting right across from him, her calculus textbook and a notebook with too many scratched out equations open in front of her.

Thorne nodded.

Cress's smile was so warm that it made butterflies flutter in Thorne's stomach and he had to clear his throat to shoo them away.

"Are you still having trouble with anti-derivatives?" he asked.

Cress nodded sheepishly and pulled her notebook towards her, as if she were almost embarrassed to have him see it.

Thorne got up from his seat and came round the table to sit next to her, tugging the textbook towards him. He held out his hand for her notebook. "May I?"

Cress hesitated for a second before handing it over and when he flipped to a brand new page without giving her previous work a second look, she smiled and leaned towards him. "Thanks."

Thorne nodded and they spent the rest of the lunch period with their heads bent over Cress's calculus homework.

* * *

"This place is so cute!" Kate exclaimed as they stepped inside Maha's. She followed Thorne as he led her towards the reserved table at the back of the restaurant.

Maha stepped out from the back just as Thorne and Kate made it to the table and upon seeing him, her face broke out into a big smile. She did not hesitate to throw her tiny arms around him.

"Thorne! I'm so happy to see you. We've missed you."

Used to Maha's disregard for personal space, Thorne returned her hug, although his grip paled in comparison to hers. She finally let him go and he was able to step back to introduce Kate.

"Maha, this is my friend Kate. Kate, this is Wolf's mom, Maha Kesley."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Kesley," Kate said with her hand out, but Maha brushed it away and gave Kate a hug of her own.

"It's Maha, honey, and I'm happy to meet any friend of Thorne's." Even though Maha's voice was warm and genuine, Thorne couldn't help but notice the peculiar look on Maha's face after she let go of Kate. When her eyes passed back to Thorne, it was as if she wanted to ask something important, but couldn't find the right words.

Just then, the bell on the front door jingled and Maha's face returned to its usual grin. She pulled Kai, Cinder, and Cress into their own hugs and whispered a welcome back into Cress's ear. Thorne's attention snapped towards them and Cress diverted her eyes.

"Come, you and Thorne go get drinks." Maha nudged Cress towards the back of the counter and Thorne followed.

He glanced back at Kate and found that she was already sitting down with Cinder and Kai. He turned back towards Cress and saw her watching him. He blushed.

Cress pretended she hadn't noticed and started filling cups with ice and each Rampion crew member's preferred drink, then passed them over to Thorne from behind the counter.

"Can you ask Kate what she wants to drink?" Cress asked him.

"Oh. She'll want a diet Coke." Thorne answered without hesitation. They had been hanging out so much lately that he hadn't even realized he knew that fact until it came tumbling out of his mouth.

Cress paused a moment and filled up the last cup before placing it on the tray between them. "Wait a second."

Thorne was just about to pick up the tray when he froze.

Cress rummaged behind the bar and produced a lemon slice. She wedged it onto the lip of Kate's diet Coke and smiled. "They taste better with a twist!"

Thorne laughed and picked up the tray to deliver the sodas with Cress close behind.

When Thorne passed Kate her diet Coke, she was impressed. "Lemon? Fancy!"

Cress winked at Thorne and his ears went pink.

Just then, Wolf and Scarlet showed up with Kinney in tow. Thorne wasn't sure what he had been expecting. He hadn't thought about it much, but when he saw Kinney, he hated that he was there. Then he hated that he was jealous of Cress's boyfriend. Was Kinney Cress's boyfriend? It seemed as though they were spending a lot of time together, but so had he and Cress before. Had he been Cress's boyfriend without realizing it? He did feel like he had been dumped.

An elbow nudged him out of his thoughts and he looked down to see Cress staring up at him with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile.

"You okay?"

Thorne realized he had been gnawing on his lip. "Oh yeah, fine."

"Come on, drink orders, round two." Cress turned to Kinney and asked him what he wanted and she and Thorne headed back to the counter.

Cress then left Thorne to deliver the rest of the drinks so that she could check on Maha and let her know Wolf had arrived.

When Thorne made it back to the table, he was dismayed to find that Kate had saved him a seat between her and Kinney. She gave him an apologetic look as if it were not her doing and Thorne resigned himself to the fact that he'd have to sit next to Cress's boyfriend or at the very least, the boy she was dating. He gulped.

"So listen, guys." Kinney leaned into the table as if he were trying to keep a secret. "I'm trying to do something special for Cress tomorrow, for Homecoming. Got any ideas?"

Thorne could feel five pairs of eyes flicker towards him and away again. He was glad Kinney hadn't noticed. The group pondered Kinney's question, but remained silent until Thorne, with his eyes fixed on his ginger ale answered.

"She likes roses."

He jumped, startled, when Kinney's hand clapped down onto his shoulder. "Thanks, man." His grin was bright and carefree.

Thorne nodded and caught Wolf's stare. He couldn't read what was going on behind those vivid green eyes, but then Wolf stood up, telling the group he was going to say hi to his mom and then disappeared into the kitchen.

Cress and Wolf stayed in the kitchen and didn't emerge until they were bringing out two piping hot pizzas with Maha in tow with a third one.

Thorne couldn't help but smile when the Rampion crew launched themselves into their pizza routine and performed their designated tasks. He even found himself falling in line with them. He had missed this.

As they all began digging in, the conversation turned towards Homecoming again.

"The limo is going to be at my house at 7 o'clock, sharp," Kai informed the group.

"You're taking a limo to Homecoming?" Kate asked, amused.

Kai shrugged. "My dad thinks stuff like this is important."

Thorne smiled. He was surprised that Kai hadn't been nominated for Homecoming king himself. He already seemed like royalty half of the time, but Thorne liked how he wasn't stuck up about it.

"Do you guys want to come? I'm sure we can make room."

"Um…" Kate looked over to Thorne.

"No, it's okay. We'll catch up with you."

"Are you sure?" Wolf asked.

Thorne rubbed the back of his neck, and looked at Kate. "Yeah, we're sure."

"That's okay. We'll see you there," Cress insisted with an encouraging smile and Thorne nodded his appreciation.

"You're right. Our Homecoming queen is so wise." Scarlet smirked.

Cress blushed. "You don't know that, not yet."

"Of course we do; you're definitely going to be Homecoming queen," Scarlet assured her and raised her soda. "To Cress, the Homecoming queen." With a second thought, she waved a hand towards Thorne and Kinney. "And you two."

The whole table laughed and clinked their cups together, but Thorne could tell that Cress seemed nervous.

The guys spent the rest of the evening polishing off the pizzas while the girls talked about their dresses and hair, although Cress refused to reveal what her dress looked like. Thorne smiled when Kate and Cinder started bonding over their love of building things and Cinder grilled Kate about the power tools she used. Scarlet and Wolf had their heads bent towards each other in a hushed conversation and Kai and Kinney went through the plays from the game earlier that evening.

Every now and then Thorne's eyes would drift towards Cress, but she never seemed to be paying attention to any of the conversations in front of her. Instead, she seemed absorbed in her own thoughts and he wondered what she was thinking about. He hoped she wasn't nervous about not winning Homecoming queen because there was no reality that he could think of where she wasn't.

When the evening dwindled down and they all said their goodbyes to Maha, Thorne stepped outside to wait while Kate used the ladies' room. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and shivered as a breeze passed by. Someone stepped up next to him and he nearly jumped in surprise, but was glad he didn't when he realized it was Kinney.

"Hey, man. Thanks again for the tip about the flowers," Kinney said, stuffing his own hands into his letterman jacket.

Thorne nodded. "Of—of course."

"Listen, I know you and Cress had a thing—"

Thorne knew he shouldn't have been surprised about this, but having Kinney say it out loud was almost like a punch in the chest.

"—and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy with the way things turned out…but Kate's pretty awesome and you guys seem really great together."

Thorne was at a loss for words. Did Kinney think he and Kate were dating? Did the Rampion crew? Thorne gulped. Did Cress?

"I think it's great that you and Cress can still be friends after everything. I guess it just goes to show that things just work themselves out in the end." Kinney smiled a bright, genuine smile.

Thorne opened his mouth to tell Kinney that he had it wrong, that Thorne and Kate were just friends, but then Cress walked up.

"You ready?" Cress asked Kinney before turning to Thorne and giving him one of her dimpled smiles.

"Yep," Kinney replied, drawing his hand out of his pocket and taking hold of Cress's.

A blush bloomed on Cress's cheeks and when she bid Thorne a goodnight, her voice was soft and almost shy. It made his pulse race and he realized it was out of jealousy. He watched as Kinney and Cress walked hand-in-hand to Kinney's car.

As Thorne watched them drive away, he turned the conversation he had just had with Kinney over and over in his head. Did everyone assume that Thorne and Kate were a couple? Sure, they had been spending a lot of time together, but he didn't think that would be of note to anyone. Besides, they certainly weren't acting like they were a couple, were they? Unlike Kinney, Thorne wasn't taking Kate's hand and kissing it every chance he got, but come to think of it, he didn't do that with Cress either even though he had wanted to. He had wanted to kiss her all the time. But did he want to kiss Kate?

The thought had never occurred to him until that moment. Kate was smart and funny. She was patient and kind. She had made the past two weeks bearable for him and when she smiled at him, he always found himself smiling back. The thought of it now made his lip curl up on instinct.

"What are you grinning about?" Kate asked as she walked up to him.

Thorne jumped. "Aces, Kate!" His hand was now splayed out onto his chest to calm his racing heart. "How do you keep sneaking up on me like that?"

Kate laughed. "Natural talent?" She watched him as he raked a hand through his hair. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he replied, his hand still on his chest.

Kate let out a soft chuckle, but shook her head. "I mean are you okay after…" She tilted her head towards the restaurant and Thorne assumed she meant to ask if he was okay after sitting at the same table as Cress and Kinney.

Thorne sighed. "I'm going to have to be."

Kate reached out and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. He found the gesture comforting and reached up to give her hand a squeeze as a sign of appreciation. She squeezed back and Thorne had to look away when he felt a heat crawl up his neck.

"Come on, lets go home," Kate said as she headed towards the Jeep.

Thorne took a moment to shake his head clear of his jumbled thoughts and had to jog to catch up with her.

 


	15. Chapter 15

Thorne rang Kate's door bell and tugged on the sleeves of his plum suit. He straightened his black tie and hoped that he didn't look too ridiculous. Having had a significant growth spurt in the last year and a half and deciding to take Kate to Homecoming at the last minute, he had not had the time to find something suitable to wear to a dance. His mom had come to the rescue that morning and pulled out a garment bag from the very back of her closet, revealing the purple suit.

Thorne gawked, but his mother had simply giggled and said, "It was the 80s. Just be glad it isn't lime green and made of crushed velvet."

Having no other choice, Thorne took his dad's old suit and tried it on, surprised that it fit so well. He chose a crisp white shirt and black tie and hoped that under the dim lights of the dance, he wouldn't stand out too much. He had suggested going to the dance in a dress shirt and slacks, but his mom had shot that idea down and insisted that he really should be wearing a suit when he was crowned Homecoming King. Thorne had scrunched up his face, but had taken the garment bag from her all the same.

Muffled voices behind the door snapped Thorne to attention and five seconds later, Kate opened it. She was wearing an emerald green dress made of chiffon that stopped just above the knee. Her thick brown hair fell in waves and was pinned back from her face with a scattering of pearl studs.

At that moment Thorne realized that he had only seen Kate in t-shirts and jeans before then, and he rubbed the back of his neck and smiled at how nice she looked all dressed up. "You look great."

Kate took a moment to grin at him. "Thanks. You clean up pretty well yourself."

Thorne flushed.

Flustered, he pressed a clear plastic box into Kate's hands. "I got that for you."

Kate looked down and let out a chortle. "Thank you. It's beautiful." She lifted the white orchid corsage from its bed of green tulle and slipped it onto her wrist. She made a small twirl in the doorway. "Well, what do you think?"

"I think my date is going to be the prettiest girl at the ball."

Kate laughed in response, deposited the empty corsage box on the table by the door, and followed Thorne to his car.

* * *

By the time they got to the school, the dance was in full swing. They saw some stragglers in the hallway, but for the most part, it had seemed like most of the school was already in the gym and on the dance floor. It was easy to spot Wolf, who was massive and stood taller than anyone else in the room. They made a beeline towards him and the refreshment table.

"Wow Kate, you look great!" Scarlet greeted them as they got closer to the group, which was hovering over the punch bowl. "And you clean up pretty nicely, Captain."

Thorne blushed while Wolf grinned and Cinder almost snorted out the punch she was drinking. She smiled apologetically at him while she dabbed at her chin with a napkin.

"Sorry, I just can't get used to you being called Captain, but you look great!"

Thorne smiled and patted her on the shoulder reassuringly. "I don't think I can get used to it either." His eyes swept the group. "So where's…Kai?"

Cinder waved a hand in the air like she was shooing a fly away. "Oh, he's talking to Principal Vargas about the court ballots."

Thorne nodded.

"And Cress is on the dance floor somewhere," Wolf offered before stuffing a mini-cupcake into his mouth. Scarlet reached up to wipe a smear of icing off the corner of his upper lip and he grinned appreciatively.

Thorne smiled to himself as he watched the tender moment.

"Come on, let's dance." Kate tugged on Thorne's elbow and before he could tell her that he didn't know how to dance, she was dragging him away from Wolf, Scarlet, and Cinder. He gave them a pleading look for help which they merely responded to by waving him off.

Thorne stood in the crowd of people and tugged self-consciously on the tie that had taken him fifteen minutes to knot perfectly. Kate started to wiggle her shoulders and he vaguely remembered hearing that particular song on the radio when Cress played DJ in his car. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she threw her head back with a laugh. Kate grabbed Thorne's hands and swung his arms back and forth.

"Come on! You gotta loosen up!" she called above the blaring of the music.

Thorne continued to let Kate swing his arms about and even found himself laughing as he hopped in one place. Kate nodded encouragingly and he ventured his own attempts at shoulder wiggling. When Kate was satisfied that he wouldn't run back to the punch bowl if she let go of his hands, she finally did and taught him some more adventurous dance moves.

"This one's called Walking the Dog," Kate called out to him. She proceeding to stick her arm in front of her and sway it back and forth as if she had an imaginary dog attached to a leash.

Thorne nearly doubled over in laughter and tried it himself. Soon, they were merely miming menial tasks while shuffling their feet. Kate was showing off a move she dubbed Grocery Shopping, where she pretended to take canned goods off a shelf and place it into an imaginary shopping cart in front of her, when a voice from behind called out to them.

"Great moves!"

Thorne spun around to see Cress and Kinney edging towards them. He instantly felt the heat rising up on his cheeks.

Cress was wearing a blush pink matelassé dress that pinched delicately at her waist and flared out, stopping at her mid-thigh with scalloped edges. It reminded him of the bouquet of roses he had given her, what felt like decades ago.

"Cress…you…you guys look great," Thorne said, flicking his eyes towards Kinney who had been bold enough to wear a black suit with a black tie and black dress shirt. He was the embodiment of cool and Thorne couldn't help but feel more self-conscious.

"You two look great, too!" Kinney offered an enthused smile when Kate stepped next to Thorne.

"That's a beautiful corsage, Kate," Cress said, eyeing the flower on Kate's wrist.

Kate brought it up so Cress could inspect it further. "Thanks. Thorne got it for me."

Cress nodded as she touched a finger to one of the delicate petals and gave Thorne an approving smile and wink.

"So where did you learn your dance moves from?" Kinney asked them. A big grin spread across his face.

Thorne blushed while Kate laughed. "Come on, I'll show you."

Kinney shrugged and followed Kate to a spot on the dance floor that had more room for maneuvering. Thorne had to laugh when she started to show off a move that they had just come up with which they dubbed The Washing Machine.

Cress smiled as she watched them. "So, are you having a good time?"

Thorne turned towards her and found her looking at him intently. "I am, actually. Thanks for asking me to come. I—I mean, not that you  _asked_ me to come, but…you know what I mean." He fidgeted with the sleeve of his suit jacket again. "The thought never even occurred to me to go to Homecoming."

Cress tilted her head as if she were studying him and then she smiled. "I'm glad you came. Do you wanna dance?" She held out a hand to him and he grabbed it.

"I have to warn you. I'm not very good at it."

Cress laughed. "It's okay. I'm not either." She winked at him, but he didn't think that was at all true.

The music changed to a happy pop song that Cress seemed to love because her eyes grew wide and she began jumping up and down. Unlike Kate, Cress didn't make up any ridiculous yet highly entertaining dance moves. Instead, she grabbed both of Thorne's hands and pulled his arms back and forth as she twisted on the spot and tossed her hair back. The energy exuding from her was contagious and soon Thorne was swaying to the music with her and even twirled Cress around a couple of times.

Once, Cress attempted to give Thorne a twirl of his own, but their height difference did not permit it and he nearly toppled over, the both of them sharing a laugh.

"Is your suit…purple?" Cress asked over the music as she placed a hand onto his shoulder to steady him.

Thorne chuckled nervously and nodded. "Yeah."

"I like it! It looks good on you!" she called out before Thorne had a chance to explain, and he grinned despite his embarrassment.

When the final notes of the song died out, Thorne twirled Cress one last time and exhausted, she fell into him, a giggle bubbling up from her. Cress lingered for the briefest of moments, but before they could move, the lights around them dimmed even lower and a slow song began to play.

Thorne expected Cress to pull away then, but when she didn't, the heat began to rise on his neck. With her arm wrapped around him, he could smell the familiar floral scent that lingered in the air around her and when he looked down, he wasn't surprised to see that the embroidered pattern all over her dress was a collection of swirls in the shape of roses. Thorne's chest tightened and without even realizing it, his hand came up to find her waist, then rested gently on top of her hip.

As if Thorne's touch sent a shock of electricity through her, Cress took a step back and looked at him wide-eyed and almost embarrassed. She quickly schooled her features and a sly smile spread on her face. She held her hand out to him for the second time that evening. "Carswell Thorne, would you do me the honor of this dance?" Her eyes twinkled under the rotating starlight of the gymnasium and Thorne had to smile back.

Again he took her hand, this time gently, letting Cress's delicate fingers slip into his. She took a half-step towards him, but she didn't lean into him as she had done before. Even though she rested her free hand on his bicep, she kept a respectable distance between them and her eyes focused on a spot just above his shoulder.

They swayed there for a moment, neither of them looking at one another. Thorne gulped, finally venturing a glance down. Maybe he had just been imagining it, but he felt an energy in the air, as if there were unspoken words floating between them, waiting to be said out loud. Thorne couldn't bring himself to say anything, afraid of shattering the fragility of their newly mended friendship. Instead, he let his gaze linger on Cress's freckles and remembered the time he had traced his fingers across her skin.

"Mind if I cut in?" Kinney's voice, although barely audible over the music, startled Thorne. He looked over to see Kinney smiling, his eyebrow raised in good-natured amusement. Kate simply looked apologetic.

Thorne dropped his arms immediately. "Of—of course." He took a step back just before Kinney swooped in between them. Thorne let Kate softly tug him away, but before they could get very far, the song ended and a spotlight lit the stage that was set up for the DJ.

Principle Vargas tapped on the mic that was positioned in the center of the platform to get everyone's attention. "Good evening, everyone. I hope you're all having a good time."

Around Thorne, everyone clapped and cheered.

"It's time to announce this year's Homecoming Court. Without further ado, here's your class president, Kai Prince." Principle Vargas stepped aside and Kai waved to the crowd while everyone cheered, a thick red envelope in his hand.

"Hello, hello. How is everyone doing tonight?"

The whole gym erupted in another wave of cheers.

Kai feigned confusion and leaned into the mic, asking again, "I don't think I heard you. How is everyone doing tonight?!"

Again, the crowd whooped and hollered and Thorne couldn't help but bark out a laugh and join in all the clapping. He ventured a glance over to Cinder who, along with Scarlet and Wolf, had made her way over to stand with Cress. Cinder simply shook her head, but laughed all the same.

Finally satisfied, Kai waved the envelope in the air and made a big show of opening it. He cleared his throat. "Okay, East Commons High School. Your Homecoming Princess this year is…Blakely Shannon."

Everyone cheered as Blakely made her way onto the stage, practically skipping until she got to Kai. The student body vice president, a junior with jet-black hair and glasses named Torin, placed a silver tiara on top of Blakely's hair while Kai handed her a bouquet of flowers. She waved her hand at her face, trying to keep her tears at bay, and threw a thumbs up at her friends who were hollering near the front of the crowd.

"Next up, your Homecoming Prince is…Jules Keller."

Jules pumped his fist into the air and climbed the steps of the stage, two at a time. As he made his way to Kai, he was doing a dance move that Thorne assumed was the current trend because the crowd cheered even louder. Kai shook Jules's hand and Torin placed a crown on his head.

"Now, for your Homecoming Queen, please join me in applauding—" Kai looked down at the next card in his hand and smirked. "Crescent Darnel!"

Thorne clapped so hard, his hands started hurting. He watched as Cress jumped with excitement and turned to hug her friends. She looked around for him, but he was too far away. She grinned and waved at him and his whole chest felt warm as he waved back to her.

Thorne watched Cress make her way on stage and give Kai a great big bear hug as he kissed her cheek. She was beaming when Torin placed the golden crown on her head and Thorne's chest began to tighten. Kai was going to announce the Homecoming King next and Thorne was surprised to see that he was nervous. He wiped his palms against his pant leg and couldn't help but feel the fluttering of butterflies in the pit of his stomach. He must have been fidgeting because Kate tugged on the hem of his jacket sleeve and he appreciated it when she didn't let go.

"And finally, your Homecoming King is…"

Thorne could hear his pulse pounding in his ears and he began to chew on his bottom lip. Why was he so nervous?

It seemed as though Kai was looking at the notecard in his hand for an eternity. He finally cleared his throat, smiled, and announced, "Liam Kinney."

The crowd cheered and Kinney made his way onto the stage. He stopped to pull Cress into a kiss before moving on to take Kai's offered hand.

Thorne simply stood there frozen in place, his eyes falling to the ground. He didn't win. Of course he didn't win. He had known all along that he wasn't going to win, so why was he was so disappointed?

Maybe he wanted to believe Cress when she had told him that he was the hero in his movie. Shouldn't heroes win Homecoming king? And if he didn't win, what did that make him?

Thorne felt a hand slip into his and then Kate's voice close to his ear. "Do you wanna get out of here?"

He nodded.

As Kate led Thorne through the crowd, he looked up to the stage one last time and his eyes briefly met Cress's before he turned to walk away.

* * *

The cool night air against his face was a relief and the lapping of the water against the edge of the lake eased his mind. Thorne had driven Kate to the park before he had even realized where they were going. It made sense and now that they were sitting on his bench; he was glad his body knew what he needed because his mind was mush.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked tentatively.

She had been quiet since they had left the school and Thorne suddenly recognized how much of a feat that was for her. He turned to smile at her appreciatively.

"Yeah. I'm just…I didn't think I was going to win, but maybe deep down I still wanted to. It's stupid."

"I don't think it's stupid at all. It's okay to be disappointed."

"It's just a plastic crown." Thorne kicked a pebble by his foot and watched as it skidded across the grass, disappearing into the darkness. He hesitated before speaking again. "I thought that if Cress was queen and I was king, maybe…" Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair, causing it to spike in all directions.

Kate laid a comforting hand on Thorne's shoulder.

"I've made up my mind about a hundred times to let her go and every single time I do, I look around frantically for a sign from the universe, telling me I was making the wrong decision. But, the complete opposite has happened. I am just reminded that we don't belong together."

Kate let out a soft sigh and squeezed his shoulder.

"She deserves a king and I'm, well…" He looked down at himself. "Not."

Kate wrinkled her nose. "Hey now. Don't say silly stuff like that. You're amazing. You're smart and you're sweet—"

Thorne snorted.

"There's nothing wrong with being nice! And you're also funny and cute!"

Thorne's lips twitched into a smile and he turned towards her. She was so close and before Thorne knew what he was doing, he was leaning into her. His lips brushed softly against Kate's and he heard a small intake of breath. He paused for the briefest second when his self-consciousness took over, but he ignored it and pressed further. He wanted to not feel sad anymore, wanted to feel that giddiness that always threatened to bubble over whenever he was near Cress, except with someone else—someone who wanted to be with him. But as he kissed Kate, he didn't feel anything.

Thorne felt nothing.

Not only was Kate not kissing him back, she sat there frozen, and it quickly dawned on him that Kate was simply trying to be nice. She hadn't come on to him. She had never tried to come on to him. And, possibly worse of all, was the fact that he was kissing her because he thought that's what he was suppose to do.

He pulled back suddenly, eyes wide and horrified as he met Kate's and she looked nearly as bewildered as he felt.

Thorne buried his face into his hands and groaned. "Oh spades and aces and stars. I'm such a moron! I'm so sorry Kate. I didn't mean to…I—aces what is wrong with me?!" He raked his fingers through his hair in frustration and looked up at Kate, defeated. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I feel like such a…a…cad!"

Kate shifted. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean it."

Thorne grimaced. He knew her words were meant to be comforting, but they made him feel even more horrible. "It's not okay." He finally looked up at her. "I'm sorry."

To Thorne's utter relief, Kate didn't look upset. She simply gave him a sympathetic smile and repositioned herself so that she could look out onto the lake. They sat in silence for a short time and Thorne was gathering up the courage to ask Kate if he had royally screwed up their friendship, when Kate finally spoke up.

"You still have feelings for Cress and that's okay. You loved her—love her—but maybe the reason why you haven't gotten over her yet is because you haven't allowed yourself to." Kate paused, perhaps giving Thorne a chance to chime in with a defense, but when he didn't, she continued. "I like hanging out. Really, I do! But, maybe you've been using this time to distract yourself. Maybe you've been avoiding having to deal with your feelings. I get it, it hurts. It's okay to be sad and confused, but maybe you need some time to allow yourself to feel those things."

Thorne chewed on his bottom lip as he listened to Kate. With every word, he felt his chest tighten and grow warm with anxiety, but at the same time, the logical part of his brain knew she was making perfect sense. Kate was right of course, and for the millionth time during their friendship, Thorne had to be grateful for her.

"You're amazing. And you're right. And I'm sorry."

Kate hopped up from the bench and held out a hand to him. "Come on, you can buy me an ice cream to make up for it."

Thorne slowly allowed himself a grin and placed his hand into Kate's, letting her pull him off the bench.

* * *

AN: As always, thanks to my beta,  _ **lettered**_ , for being so wonderful. Also, a special thanks to  ** _zissa_**  for listening to be complain about this chapter while I was writing it and being beyond encouraging.


	16. Chapter 16

Thorne closed his text book and pushed himself away from his desk, slipping his physics homework into his backpack for safe keeping. He yawned and allowed himself a leisurely stretch. It had taken him even longer than usual to finish his homework and he was beginning to get frustrated with his splinted fingers. He thumbed the tape that bound his hand and eyed the small calendar sitting on his desk, mentally tallying up the weeks he had left until he could get his splint removed.

Two weeks. Two more weeks.

Thorne couldn't believe it had only been a little over a month since he had had that confrontation with Julian in the hallway. It had only been a little over a month since he had ran into Cress at the lake and he thought it was odd that his life had made so many drastic changes, and yet they still seemed to stay the same.

Two months ago he had been invisible to the entire school and now he had been nominated for Homecoming King, only to have lost to the school's star quarterback. Two months ago, only in his wildest dreams did he think he would have been able to talk to Cress and now he had been on a date with her, held her hand, kissed her, only to have lost that as well. Two months ago he had spent all of his free time hunched over the Rampion, making sure each and every detail had been perfect and now…well, the Rampion was still his, even though he hadn't had much sailing time with it.

Thorne plunged his hand into his backpack, digging around aimlessly until he felt the worn leather of his notebook and pulled it out. Standing up from his desk, he grabbed his keys, stuffed the notebook into the back pocket of his jeans and dialed Kate's number as he made his way downstairs.

"Hey stranger," Kate answered after the second ring. "How's it going?"

"It's going."

There was an audible huff on the other side. "Don't sound so dour. What are you up to this beautiful Sunday afternoon?"

Thorne smiled. "I was thinking about heading to the lake. Wanna come?"

"Can't. My mom's got me doing inventory at the bookstore and I'm trying to be on my best behavior so that I can persuade her not to make me visit my dad and  _Camilla_  next weekend."

Thorne nodded sympathetically. There had been many occasions where Kate had voiced her distaste for her stepmother and Thorne knew Kate would rather have a cyborg operation than spend a whole weekend with her. "Well, if you need a break, come to the lake...or I can pick you up."

"Thanks."

"Hey, before I forget. When do you think you'll be done with the Rampion?"

Kate let out a long breath. "I have kept it for a while haven't I? Would you hate me if I asked to keep it for another week…and a half? Just until I get back, then we can figure out a new window display."

The corner of Thorne's mouth turned up. "Sure." He had not expected Kate to conscript him in the new window display design, but he found himself delighted to be included. "I'll talk to you later."

"Have a good one."

Thorne hung up, then called out to his mom, informing her that he was headed out and hopped into his Jeep, making his way to the lake.

* * *

The sun was out in full as Thorne took a seat at his favorite bench and the light rippling off the surface of the lake was almost blinding. Nearby, a group of what looked to be ten-year-old boys took turns skipping stones across the water's surface. Thorne had forgotten how much he loved that spot and took a moment to savor the warmth beating down on his face.

He sat, fully content, until the sound of children playing faded away. The boys must have scrambled off, looking for a new adventure. Thorne smiled to himself as he cracked open his notebook, flipping to the back pages to examine his latest sketches.

It had been a week since the Homecoming dance and Thorne had spent most of his free time working on these new sketches and Rampion design modifications. There had been more than one occasion where Kate and the Rampion crew had expressed concern, but Thorne had relished in the solitude, finding comfort in the ability to lose himself in something that he loved. And now that the Rampion would soon be back in his hands, he couldn't help but look out onto the lake with a wide grin on his face and thought about which of the modifications would best suit the Rampion and the easiest ways to implement them.

Thorne was so deep in his own thoughts that he didn't hear the sound of approaching feet until they were nearly upon him. The sound snapped him to attention and even though there was no evidence to prove it, for a heartbeat, he thought it might have been Cress.

He turned towards the sound and his mouth practically fell open when he saw Kinney.

Kinney must have been just as surprised to see him because he paused mid-step and almost stumbled on the slope of the terrain leading towards the lake. Thorne watched him as he let out a soft chuckle and ran a tanned hand through his wavy brown hair, an obvious distraction as he righted his footing.

"Hey, Thorne." Kinney smiled when he finally made it to the bench.

Thorne looked at the hands that were now stuffed in the front pockets of Kinney's jeans and he thought the star quarterback looked almost nervous. "How did you know I was here?"

"Oh! I didn't. I was…" Kinney let out another nervous chuckle. "I was actually looking for Cress."

"Oh."

"You haven't seen her have you?"

"Cress?"

"Yeah."

"No."

"Oh."

Thorne watched as Kinney dug the toe of his sneakers into the grass. "Uhh…do you want to sit down?" Not waiting for a reply, Thorne scooted down the bench to give Kinney room to sit.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks." Kinney took the offered seat and silence fell between them.

Unsure of what to do, and feeling tension ripple in the air, Thorne cleared his throat. "So…um…you're looking for Cress?"

Kinney gave Thorne a glance. "Yeah. I thought she'd be here. She mentioned once that she liked coming here." He returned his gaze onto the lake, letting his eyes scan the water's surface.

Thorne nodded.

"I can see why she likes it. It's…peaceful." Another silence and before Thorne could open his mouth to say anything, Kinney spoke up again. "Have you talked to Cress at all?"

The question caught him by surprise and he knit his eyebrows in confusion. Why was Kinney looking for Cress and why was he asking Thorne if he had spoken to her? "No. I haven't—I haven't spoken to her since Homecoming."

"So you don't know?"

Panic began to rise in Thorne's chest and he felt the back of his neck growing hot. "What? What happened? Is she okay?" Thorne thought back to earlier in the week, he had see her a couple of times in the hallways before and after school, but he didn't think anything had been out of the ordinary except…now that Thorne was trying to remember, he didn't recall seeing Kinney around.

"I hope she's okay…" Kinney let out another nervous laugh and this one sounded a bit trite. "She broke up with me after the dance."

Thorne had to lean in, wondering if he had heard correctly. "What?"

"Yeah."

He wasn't sure he wanted to know, but his curiosity got the better of him. "Why?"

Kinney sighed and gave him a weak shrug of his shoulder. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Thorne let out a low whistle and he leaned back onto the bench. As he shifted, the pen that he had tucked inside his notebook fell out and bounced under the seat. He didn't move to pick it up. The two boys sat in silence as they looked out onto the lake, the sun beginning to turn the surface of the water orange.

Thorne wondered what had happened between them. They had looked so happy at the dance, the Homecoming King and Queen. He was beginning to wonder that if Kinney of all people couldn't last with Cress, did Thorne really have a chance at all?

"You didn't tell her you love her did you?"

Kinney let out one of his good-natured chuckles and Thorne could almost hear a snort of disbelief in it. "No. We'd only been dating for two weeks. Who would do that?"

Thorne raised his hand a couple of inches off of his knee, incriminating himself. "Guilty."

Now it was Kinney's turn to let out a low whistle.

And Thorne's turn to reply, "Yeah."

Kinney ran another hand through his hair. "So how'd you finally get over her?"

Thorne winced. "I'm still not sure that I have."

"But you and Kate—"

Thorne shook his head. "Kate and I aren't dating. We're just friends."

"Huh."

Thorne raised a quizzical eyebrow at Kinney, but the boy didn't explain any further. Not until another silent minute had passed and Thorne was just beginning to grow uncomfortable.

"You know, I gotta tell ya…and I'll deny it if anyone asks…but I was kinda jealous of you."

Thorne blinked. "Me? You were jealous of me?"

Kinney ran his hand through his hair once more. The way his mouth had turned into a tight line made Thorne think he had regretted his confession, but he continued anyway. "You kinda…came up in conversation a lot." Kinney looked at Thorne and gave him a weak smile. "I don't think she did it on purpose, but…I dunno…once, she spent a whole hour telling me about stars. Stars!"

Thorne looked down at his hands. He couldn't help the slight upward twitch in the corner of his mouth despite his confusion at what Kinney was telling him. Cress talked about him? Cress broke up with Kinney? Did she break up with Kinney because of him?

Kinney's voice rattled Thorne out of his thoughts. "It kind of made me want to hate you." He threw a glance over at Thorne.

Thorne backed away instinctively and silently cursed himself for it.

"I don't, by the way," Kinney quickly amended. "You're actually a pretty cool guy."

Thorne laughed, almost incredulously. "If we're being honest, I'm pretty intimidated by you…but I guess that doesn't come as a surprise."

"Hey, don't sell yourself short." Another silence fell between them and Kinney once again dug the toe of his sneakers into the grass. "I'm beginning to think that maybe Cress hasn't really gotten over you either…"

Thorne gulped. These had been the words he had desperately been wanting to hear, but he wasn't sure how to feel hearing them come from Kinney.

"I'd be lying if I said it doesn't make me want to take a swing at you." Kinney chuckled before his eyes flickered to Thorne's splint. "But I'm not so sure you wouldn't give me a shiner to match Julian's."

Thorne let out another incredulous laugh. "So much that did for me." He held up his injured hand as emphasis.

"Next time, make sure you're making contact with the flat of your fingers and keep your wrist straight." Kinney made a fist and smacked it against the palm of his left hand, showing Thorne exactly how his punches should land.

"Thanks." Thorne rubbed the back of his neck and wondered if this conversation could get any weirder.

Kinney laughed one last time and stood up. "I should get going. Thanks for the chat."

Thorne nodded. "I'm sorry about Cress."

"Me too. I'm sorry…I'm sorry you didn't get Homecoming King."

Thorne raised an eyebrow at Kinney. "It's alright. You win some, you lose some."

Kinney considered him for a minute before his mouth quirked up. "I guess you're right. See ya, Thorne."

"Bye Kinney."

Thorne watched Kinney until the boy crested the hill and disappeared. He slumped back onto the bench and chewed on his lip, considering everything that Kinney had just said. If he had been confused about his relationship with Cress before, now things were really upside down.

A week ago, in the very spot that he was sitting in now, Thorne had told Kate that he was looking for a sign from the universe that he shouldn't give up on Cress—that he had been right in his hesitation to move on. Was this finally that sign? Sent to him in the form of, if he were being perfectly honest, someone whose perfect hair and perfect smile had always made him feel less than adequate.

If everything Kinney had said was true, did this mean that Cress really did want to be with him? She had made it perfectly clear that she only wanted to be friends, but if she talked about him, subconsciously led Kinney to believe she still had feelings for Thorne, maybe she hadn't been entirely truthful.

Thorne scrunched his nose.

But if Cress really did want to be with him, all she had to do was say so. She had not told Thorne that she and Kinney had broken up. She hadn't made any indication that anything in her life had changed and the thought that she didn't tell him anything made his heart ache a bit.

He ran a hand down his face, letting out a deep sigh. He picked up his notebook and bent down to retrieve the pen that had rolled under the bench when Thorne had been in the middle of talking to Kinney. He grabbed the pen and as he shifted, the sunset lit the ground beneath his hand and something sparkly and familiar caught Thorne's eye.

Laying in the grass, almost hidden beneath the lush green blades was a silver hairpin, the end adorned with a tiny silver star studded with rhinestones. Thorne picked it up and twirled it between his fingers, letting it catch the last bits of light from the setting sun and twinkle. He wondered where the hair pin came from. The last time he saw it was weeks ago when he had slipped it into Cress's locker. She must have worn it since then, must have been at the lake since then.

Cress had told him the first time they talked that she liked going to the lake when she wanted to get away and Thorne wondered how often that was the case. He slipped the hair pin into his pocket and stood up to walk back to his car.

* * *

Thursday morning, Thorne stood at his locker stuffing books into his bag as usual, Cress's hair pin burning a hole in his pocket. He had wondering all week how best to approach her. He had considered dropping it into her locker like he had done before, but he didn't want to be a coward again. Kate had agreed that Thorne needed to hand deliver the hair pin, but she was too busy trying to think of ways to get out of seeing her dad for the long weekend that she wasn't much help with what Thorne should actually say to Cress when he did return the silver pin.

Thorne sighed.

This was his last chance before the week was up. They had the next day off and Thorne didn't think he could spend another three nights with the pin sitting on his nightstand, taunting him. He dared a glance over to Cress's locker and found that she was standing there, looking at him.

Cress jumped when their eyes locked and she turned towards her friends and laughed at something Kai had said. Thorne watched her for a few lingering seconds, but before he turned away, Cress looked over and caught his eye again. Thorne could have sworn that he could see her blushing from thirty feet away.

Thorne ventured a wave and Cress grinned, waving back. His mouth quirked up and he took a step forward before hesitating. He looked down at his feet, willing them to move. He huffed and then the determination set in. He steeled himself and looked up, surprised to see that Cress was walking towards him, a shy smile on her face.

Thorne gulped.

He watched as she made her way towards him and felt the heat rising up his neck. She was halfway towards him now and his heart drummed as he saw the blue of her eyes twinkle. Thorne smiled and Cress returned it before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Thorne couldn't help but rub the back of his neck in anticipation. Unfortunately, he had been so distracted with Cress that he hadn't realized Kate was standing in front of him until he blinked and saw her face a foot away from him, her big brown eyes rimmed red.

Thorne blinked again. "Kate? What—are you okay?" He knew she wasn't even before the words left his mouth.

Kate's face was ghastly pale except for two bright red sports on her cheeks. As soon as Thorne had asked her if she was okay, tears began to pool in her eyes, threatening to spill.

Horrified, Thorne reached over to place a steadying hand onto Kate's shoulder. "Kate, what's wrong?" Seeing Kate like this made Thorne's stomach churn unpleasantly.

Kate didn't answer him. Instead, her lip began to tremble and her shoulder shook. He stepped forward and gave her am a squeeze, hoping to jog her into answering him. It seemed to have done the trick, but when Kate finally opened her mouth to explain what the problem was, a sob escaped and she sunk forward, burying her face into Thorne's chest.

He stood frozen for a second, shocked that they were standing there in the middle the crowded hallway with Kate weeping in his arms. He dared a look over to Cress who had stopped ten feet away and was watching him and Kate, eyebrows knit and concern etched on her face.

Thorne found that his own eyebrows were knit and he dropped his gaze down to Kate. Not knowing what else to do, his brought his hand up to smooth her hair and whispered softly, "It's okay Kate. Whatever the problem is, it's going to be okay."

Thorne felt Kate shake her head before she let out a trembling, "It's not okay."

"Of course it is."

Kate shook her head again, finally pulling away to reveal a face streaked with tears. She took two quick gulps of air and swiped at her face, finally daring to look him in the eye. "Someone smashed the window at the bookstore last night."

Thorne looked Kate up and down, searching for any signs of injury. "Are you okay? Where you there when it happened? Did you get hurt?"

"No. It was late, we were already closed. I'm okay." She hiccuped. "But Thorne…"

Satisfied that she wasn't hurt, Thorne's attention returned to Kate's face and there was misery sketched all over it. She held his gaze for a single second before averting her eyes to her scuffed shoes and in almost a whisper said, "The Rampion was smashed."

She spoke so softly that Thorne had to bend his head closer towards her, not sure he heard her clearly over the chatter of the busy hallway. "What?"

Kate looked up at him and her eyes began to pool with a fresh set of tears. "Whoever smashed the window also smashed the Rampion." She sniffled. "It's ruined."

Thorne felt his stomach plummet, but he was unable to move. Unable to say or do anything except stare at Kate with complete disbelief.

"Thorne, I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" Kate clutched his hand with urgency. "I can't bring it back, but I'll—I'll pay you for the damages."

"No." He squeezed her hand to show her that it was okay. "It's not your fault."

"I feel so horrible. I talked you into letting me use it in the window display…and you asked for it back… and… and I was being selfish…and now it's gone."

Thorne pulled Kate into a firm hug. "It's not your fault." Of course it wasn't Kate's fault, but hearing himself say it out loud helped him come to terms with it. It was just another case of bad luck and Thorne began to wonder if he was destined to be unlucky for the rest of his life.

The first period bell rang, but the only movement Kate made was to groan in agony. He knew she simply couldn't go to first period like this and he hated to admit that if Kate wasn't so visibly heartbroken about the Rampion, Thorne might have broken down himself.

"Come on. Lets get out of here."

"B-but first period…"

Thorne wrapped his arm around Kate's shoulder and began to walk her down the hall. "It's okay. Come on."

He ventured a glance at Cress as they walked pass her. She gave him a sympathetic smile and looked as though she wanted to say something, but she bit her lip instead and turned away to walk to her first period class.

Thorne gave Kate's shoulder another reassuring squeeze and then opened the door at the end of the hallway that led to the parking lot. He flinched when they stepped out into the sunshine.

 


	17. Chapter 17

Thorne swallowed hard as his eyes scanned the front of the bookshop. The large bay window that usually housed Kate's enchanting window displays had been boarded up with sheets of plywood and large letters spray painted in orange neon onto the wood itself indicated the name of the bookstore. When his gaze fell onto tiny pebbles of broken glass that someone must have missed while sweeping, a wave of bright anger crashed into him and he clenched his left hand into a fist so tight his knuckles turned white.

Kate tugged on his elbow. "Come on."

She led him through the front door and when they stepped inside, he had to let out a slow breath. Nothing inside the bookshop looked different except that there were two large sheets of blue tarp hanging over the opening to the bay window, creating a curtain to hide the evidence of destruction. Thorne tore his eyes away from the blue tarp to scan the rest of the shop.

"They didn't touch anything else," Kate said, reading his mind.

He nodded and finally looked at her. The red around her eyes was gone, but there was still a flush in her cheeks and some little wisps of hair stuck to the side of her face, no doubt held there by the earlier tears that had dried.

When Thorne had led Kate out of the school, they had walked to his car and he drove them down the street to get her a coffee and some tissues. They wandered around aimlessly while Kate calmed down and he found comfort in focusing on the task of driving, not letting his mind wander to the Rampion or whatever was left of it. They had gone to the park and walked around the lake, not saying much and not really wanting to either. Finally, Kate had suggested they go to the bookshop so that Thorne could see the damage for himself and collect the pieces. She didn't look him in the eye when she had suggested it.

Thorne turned his head towards the tarps again. "Is it—is it bad?"

Kate didn't answer. Instead, she walked over and reached for the slit in the middle, pulling back one of the plastic sheets and stepping aside. He took a deep breath before stepping forward and when his eyes finally fell upon the scene, his heart lurched to his throat.

The books that had been lined up so carefully on the shelf that Kate had made to resemble a cresting wave were scattered everywhere. Some of the books had lost their dust jackets while others lay at odd angles, their spines clearly broken. Some of them had even lost their pages and in the mess of loose paper, Thorne could make out a couple of dirty, incomplete footprints.

His heart raced when he began to realize that not all the sheets of white had come from books, but that they were the Rampion's sails, crushed and torn, and ironically still strung together by the fishing wire that he had painstakingly stitched them with all those weeks ago. He stepped closer, finally steeling himself to peek over the edge of the crashing wave bookshelf and he let out an audible gasp as a pile of splintered wood came into view.

When Kate had told him that the Rampion was smashed, Thorne secretly hoped that the damage wasn't that bad. Maybe someone had thrown a rock at it and possibly caved in the hull. Maybe Kate wasn't familiar with model ships and how Thorne could have mended it. He had still been holding out hope that things weren't as bad as Kate's tears had made them out to be, but as Thorne's eyes roamed the scene and snagged on every piece of broken wood, he realized that Kate's tears had been entirely appropriate.

He inched forward.

A glint of metal caught his attention and he fell onto his knees to fish out the Rampion's motor which looked like it had been damaged along with the ship. He wrapped his fingers around the bent metal and broken plastic. He had hoped that even if all had been lost, he could at least have reused the motor to rebuild the ship, but whoever had smashed the window, had completely finished the job with the Rampion. He swallowed hard, sifting through the broken pieces of the schooner and his breath hitched when he found what he had been looking for. His splinted hand hovered above a six inch piece of thick wood, painted in glossy black with gold lettering that spelled out the words The Rampion. A large crack ran through the letter M, slicing it into two and Thorne picked up the wood gingerly, willing it not to break in half like it was threatening to do.

When he stood up to leave the alcove, his head knocked into a couple of the stars hanging from the ceiling, the only thing in the window display that had remained unscathed. In his frustration, he grabbed a handful and yanked them down.

Kate gasped in surprise and Thorne hung his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean—" he sighed. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

Thorne looked down at his hands, three silver stars hung by their ribbons in his clenched fist. "No, it's not. I'll help you clean all of this up."

Kate nodded and went into the back room to find a trash can while Thorne dumped his backpack onto the front counter and carefully placed the Rampion's motor and the splintered plank into his bag. He returned to the alcove and pulled down the blue tarps, carefully folding them up while Kate wheeled out a large trash bin.

Thorne rolled up his sleeves. "Do you know who did this?"

Kate shook her head. "We have a security camera in the front, but all we could see was a dark figure with a hoodie pulled over their face. It's hard to see much of anything else." She began to pick up the scattered books, piling them up next to her.

Thorne furrowed his brow, not understanding why anyone would get a kick out of something like this. "Do you think someone from school did this?" He handed her three books and she took them from him.

"I don't know. The police think so."

He handed her two more books. "What did they say?"

Kate sighed. "That it was probably someone playing a prank. Since nothing was taken, it will be harder for them to catch who did it. Honestly, it doesn't sound promising."

He frowned. He just couldn't understand why someone would do something like this. He didn't think he'd ever understand that sort of disregard for others.

Kate's sigh brought him back from his thoughts. "I'm really, really sorry about this."

"Hey." Thorne set aside the books in his hand and reached over to pull her into a hug. "It's not your fault. You shouldn't be sorry. It's that…that… _punk_ who should be sorry."

A guttural laugh rumbled against his shoulder and Kate pulled away to look at him. "Stars! How old are you? Eighteen or eighty?"

He scrunched up his nose at her and pushed her away playfully, but she held onto his hand, holding it tight. He knew she still felt bad about everything, but he didn't want to hear her apologize anymore—not for something that wasn't her fault. Not for someone else's actions. He gave her hand a squeeze and hoped he could relay all of his thoughts into it. She seemed to have understood because she nodded and resumed her book stacking.

When all the scattered books had been picked up, Thorne scanned the platform of the bay window one more time and his heart ached to see all that was left was broken pieces of wood.

Kate picked up a stack of books and pressed it into his arms. "Why don't you start organizing these so I can catalog them. I'll go find a broom."

Thorne nodded and began carrying the books to the front counter where he could stack them in alphabetical order. He had to make multiple trips but was done when Kate came back with a broom and dustpan. She began to sweep up the debris and gingerly eased the broken pieces into the trash bin. Thorne appreciated how gentle she was being with the Rampion, even now.

He lingered by the counter until she finished sweeping and came over to help when she began taking down the silver stars they had hung weeks ago. They worked in silence and Thorne thought about how ironic it was that having the Rampion in the window display prompted him to begin sketching new designs and how he spent a great amount of his time wondering how he could make those modifications and now there was no Rampion to make changes to. He wasn't exactly sure what the universe was trying to tell him. He was already convinced that he was the unluckiest guy in the world.

Tugging the stars down from the ceiling, Thorne couldn't help but be reminded of Cress's hair pin that was still tucked into the front pocket of his jeans.

"Cress was the very first person I showed the Rampion to," he said as he unpinned another star from the ceiling.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I ran into her at the lake. It was the first time we talked."

Kate gave him a sympathetic smile.

He let out a snort when his thoughts wandered off and he realized how silly he was being.

She raised a quizzical eyebrow at him.

"Sometimes I wonder…if it was destiny that brought Cress and I together."

Thorne looked at Kate while she pondered this. After a moment's thought, she smirked. "I'm pretty sure it was the Rampion."

He let out another snort and continued to pull down the hanging stars one by one.

* * *

Thorne sat on top of his bed, his back leaning against the polished walnut headboard, his English homework spread out in front of him. He chewed on the end of his pencil while he flipped through his school issued copy of  _A Midsummer's Night Dream._ He groaned when he realized how much more of the play he had left to read.

Setting the book aside, he leaned forward for a great big stretch, working out the crick in his neck. When he righted himself, he leaned back against his pillow and decided he deserved a much needed break. He reached for his phone, wondering if he had missed any messages from Kate. She had dreaded visiting her dad over the weekend along with her stepmother, but from the lack of frantic text messages, he figured she was faring better than she claimed she would. He was glad Kate wasn't miserable, but if he were being perfectly honest, the lack of messages made him feel a bit lonely.

Out of habit, he reached over to his nightstand and grabbed Cress's hairpin, propping himself onto his arm to twist the pin in his hand. He still had it, not being able to scrounge up the courage to give her a call and return it. He began to think that maybe he liked having the hairpin. It was a piece of her that he could keep close, but he knew he couldn't keep it forever. He needed to return it, but more importantly, he needed to have a conversation with her. He sighed as he fell back onto his bed, landing with a bounce and a huff.

Laying on his bed, he tugged at his shirt, knowing that he was delaying the inevitable. He needed to talk to her and he couldn't put it off any longer. He needed to tell Cress that he still had feelings for her. He knew it was a risk of course, that there was every possibility that she would break his heart again, but every time he was near her or just even thinking about her, he felt a bubbling warmth inside of his chest and he knew that it meant  _something_. He had to tell her. He had to tell her every thing he never got a chance to and let her take what she wanted of it.

He turned his head and looked over at his phone, wondering if he would be able to send mind waves out to Cress. Maybe she could be the one to call him and then he'd be forced to be brave. He furrowed his brow and concentrated, mentally picturing Cress picking up her phone and dialing his number.

Thorne's phone buzzed and he jumped.

"Aces!"

He grabbed his phone—heart pounding—and wondered if he really did will her to call him. When he looked down, he let out a bark of laughter. It was two text messages from Kate.

Sunday 5:32 P.M.  _Freedom! Free from the clutches of evil Camilla. On my way home!_

Sunday 5:33 P.M.  _I think her English accent is fake._

Thorne sat up, barely enough to type out a reply, congratulating her on surviving the long weekend and inviting her over if she was feeling up for it. He pressed send and sank back down onto his bed. He cushioned his hands behind his head and watched the walnut blades of his fan as it spun lazily, slicing through the golden streaks of the late afternoon sun that splattered on the ceiling.

After every third rotation, the balsa wood model plane that hung by his desk—the very first one he ever built—swayed. He found it quite hypnotizing and completely lost track of time until he heard a soft knock on his door. He lifted his head just high enough to see his mom poke her head into his room with a smile so sly, he wondered what she was up to.

"Hey mom, what's up?"

"There's a girl here to see you."

Thorne sat up. "A girl?" He furrowed his brows, wondering how Kate could have made it home so quickly.

"Should I send her in?"

"Uh…yeah. S-sure." He threw a quick glance around his room, hoping there were no dirty clothes strewn about. He was glad he had tidied up that morning.

Elena withdrew her head from the doorway and Thorne could hear his mom say, "It's the first door on your left."

"Thank you, Mrs. Thorne," replied the voice and Thorne's heart began to pound because it wasn't Kate he heard.

Time seemed to have slowed down to an agonizing pace and yet it also felt like only a second had gone by before there was another soft knock on his door.

He panicked.

The knock came again. This time, a little louder.

Thorne cleared his throat. "Come—come in." He gulped as the door was pushed open and Cress stepped into his room.

She looked at him and smiled. "Hi," she said as her lips turned up into a dimpled grin.

Thorne looked at her, wide-eyed and speechless.

Cress's eyes shifted to his feet and back up to his face again. "Is this a bad time? I wasn't—I thought—"

"No—no." Thorne finally realized he was still sitting on his bed and shot up. "Don't go." Realizing he must have sounded desperate, he took a step forward and much more gently, he said, "I mean…you don't have to leave."

Cress nodded. Finally tearing her eyes away from him. She gave her surroundings a once over. "So…this is your room?" Her dimpled smiled returned.

"Yeah." His eyes followed her gaze and he silently groaned when he realized she was inspecting the balsa wood model airplane built by an eager eight year old.

She stepped closer to take a look and even standing on her tip-toes, her fingertips barely grazed the triplane's wings. She studied the model until something beyond it caught her eye and she took the couple of steps towards Thorne's desk and the large world map, studded with pins on the wall behind it.

She turned to him, eyes gleaming. "What do those pins mean?"

Thorne took a tentative step closer. "Umm, well…the green pins are all the places I've been. And the red ones are all the places I want to go."

Cress continued to study the map and then let out a giggle. "The Sahara?!"

Thorne chuckled nervously. "The views of the night sky are suppose to be breathtaking…and it would be cool to see a camel."

Cress let out one of her tinkling laughs and reached over to trace a finger to a select few red pins—from a tiny town in northern Africa called Farahfrah, to Paris, and then making a large arc to Beijing. "Your taste certainly is varied," she teased.

He chuckled. "I want to see the whole world."

"It looks like you've got a great start already," she said, nodding to the map. A third of the pins were already green. She gave him a wink and turned her attention back to the map and slowly, slowly down to his desk. She let out a small gasp, her hand instinctively jumping towards her mouth.

Though she hardly made a sound, Thorne winced, knowing exactly how she felt and a hundred times worst. Sitting on top of his desk was the only thing he had left of the Rampion, a broken motor and a splintered piece of wood. He watched as Cress ran a finger along the golden script now scarred with nicks and a large crack down the middle.

"Do you know who did this?" she asked, her eyes on the piece of wood, ironically still glossy with polish.

Thorne sighed. "No."

"I heard about it in second period. When I didn't see you or Kate after school I thought it was probably pretty bad but…I'm so, so sorry, Thorne." She looked up at him then and he had to look away because her bright blue eyes were beginning to pool with tears and while he had been able to keep it together when Kate had cried over the Rampion, he knew he wouldn't be so strong if he saw Cress shed a tear for the ship.

"It's okay," he assured her.

He could see her head shake out of the corner of his eye, her golden hair swaying back and forth. She swiped at her eyes. "It's not okay."

"It's going to be okay," he tried to assure her, tried to assure himself.

Thorne heard her take a breath and looked up just as her eyes darted to the books on his bed and snagged on something glimmering. "Is that my hairpin?"

Thorne blushed, bending over to pick it up. He gave it a twist in his fingers almost out of habit before holding it out to her. "Yeah…I found it at the park."

Cress took it from him.

"I meant to give it back to you on Thursday, but…" He rubbed the back of his neck.

Cress looked down and twirled the hairpin in her own hand. They stayed silent, watching the rhinestones catch the sunlight filtering through the room until Thorne broke the stillness.

"Cress, what are you doing here?"

She looked up surprised. "Oh, I…well… I brought you something." She held out what looked to be a shoebox wrapped in paper that Thorne noticed for the first time. "Take it," she insisted when he didn't move.

He reached out and took the box from her. He couldn't even begin to guess what it was and why it had a ribbon attached to the top, but he was surprised when it felt heavier than he expected. Slowly, he lifted the lid and peered in.

His eyebrows raised.

Cress watched him apprehensively as he pulled out the object to examine it. "Cinder told me which one to get. I—I had to order it, but Mr. Erland at the model shop was really nice. I told him it was for you and he tracked it down for me." She smiled when he finally looked at her.

"You got me a motor?" he asked in disbelief.

She nodded. "I hope it's good. Cinder insisted it was the right one and Mr. Erland seemed to think so too. Do you—is it okay?"

Thorne set the empty box onto his bed and turned the motor around in his hands. Cress had bought him a new motor. One to replace the broken one. She had consulted Cinder and special ordered it from Mr. Erland at the model store. And she had done all of that for him. His face grew warm. "It's perfect."

She looked relieved and leaned against his desk, grinning. "Oh good."

Thorne returned the motor to the box and placed it on his nightstand. "Now I just have to wait until my hand heals."

"Well, I could help you. I mean…you'd have to tell me what to do, but I could help you until your hand gets better…and even after. If—if you wanted." She was standing straight now, no longer leaning against the desk with the usual air of ease around her. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and bit her lip.

"You want to help me…rebuild the Rampion?" Thorne asked, making sure he heard her correctly.

"Yes. I mean—well…" Her eyes landed on every spot in his bedroom except for him. "I'm not very good at this," she confessed.

Thorne furrowed his eyebrows. He wondered if he had missed something in their conversation. She opened her mouth and closed it again. She was starting to look frustrated, like her words weren't matching up with what she was trying to say.

He took a step towards her and her eyes landed on a spot on his chest. "I miss—I miss spending time with you. After the date and the kiss and…what you said…I thought I was doing us a favor. I thought I was doing the right thing. Except it hadn't been the right thing. I realized that I had messed up, but then you were with Kate and I was with Kinney and I was too afraid to admit I had made a mistake."

Thorne's ears burned. "Kate and I aren't together. We never were—not like that."

She nodded, still not looking at him. "I know, but she works at a bookstore and she's so good at calculus and you two—" she paused. "I messed up and I didn't think I deserved a second chance."

Thorne took a small step towards her, almost afraid to make any quick movements.

"You deserve better, not someone who was so stubborn or blind that she couldn't see the real thing when it was standing in front of her." She swallowed, still avoiding his gaze. "I used to think that great, epic romances only existed in the movies or books, that nothing like that could ever happen in real life. I've had a lot of time to think about it and I've realized that if…"

Pulse pounding in his ears, he took another step towards her.

"…if we want one, we have to make them ourselves."

Thorne swallowed. "Do you—do you want one?"

The corner of her mouth ticked up a fraction.

"With me?"

She let out a nervous laugh and nodded, finally looking up to meet his eyes. Her face was flush with a pink that matched her homecoming dress and the roses he had gotten her weeks ago. And just like that, all of the tension and unease that Thorne had been carrying around for the past month evaporated with an exhale.

"Cress?" Thorne swallowed.

"Yes?"

Fueled by her confession, he felt brave and heroic and knew he had to make a move. She had said that they needed to make their great, epic romance and he was determined to do so. "I'm going to kiss you now." He took one long stride forward, closing the space between them and she was so surprised that she took a step back, bumping her legs against his desk.

She let out one of her tinkling laughs, relief washing over her face and he grinned. She braced herself, her hands against his chest and he brought his uninjured hand up to cup her face. She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes instinctively.

Thorne let himself savor the moment and his gaze traced her face, landing on one freckle to the next, while the scent of roses hung in the air around them. Cress tilted her head back to bring her lips closer to his and he had to smile and oblige her. He brushed his lips softly against hers and felt his whole body tingle. She nipped at his lower lip and he laughed against her lips.

She pulled away and giggled. "Sorry."

Feeling bold, he grinned at her. "It's okay, I should have just done this."

Cress gasped in delight when Thorne picked her up by the waist and set her on the edge of his desk. His pulse quickened when she grabbed onto his t-shirt again and he moved his left hand up to cradle the back of her head as he pressed his lips against hers in a deep kiss. He felt Cress's knees pressed against his hips and they broke apart only long enough to swallow a breath of air before crashing into each other again.

Cress rested her arms on his shoulders and entwined her fingers in his hair while his hand that was still on her waist traced soft swirls against the thin fabric of her shirt. He heard a soft moan that could have come from either one of them. He was dizzy with euphoria and when his lungs burned for air, they finally broke apart.

"Thorne." She said his name with a breathless sigh of content and he gave her lips a tender kiss that made her smile.

Ever so gently, he ran the pad of his thumb across her lips, now a deep pink after their heated kiss and he smiled when she gave his finger a small peck. His mind was racing and his heart was pounding as he ran his thumb up her jawline to catch a lock of her hair and twirled it around her finger. He leaned down to press a kiss into that golden curl, then held out his arm to help her down from his desk.

She let out a soft laugh when she took his hand and slid off of the ledge, straightening her shirt and her hair that had been mussed up by his fingers. She stood on her tippy toes to fix the damage that she had caused to his hair and he couldn't help the goofy grin that was plastered on his face. She raised an eyebrow at him when he couldn't stop staring at her and he blushed.

Was this it? Did he have to ask her to be his girlfriend and make it official? In his mind, that kiss had been confirmation enough. He opened his mouth and closed it again.

Cress looked at him amused.

Thorne cleared his throat, but before he could say anything, there was a knock on his bedroom door and his mom poked her head in, starling the both of them. His face turned bright red, glad that his mom hadn't shown up five minutes earlier.

"Cress, would you like to stay for dinner? We're having chili rellenos." Elena asked, smiling sweetly at the two of them.

Cress turned to look at Thorne. He could have died with embarrassment, but he didn't want her to leave. "It's really good," he offered, giving her a nod. "You should stay."

Cress grinned and took his hand, squeezing it. "I'd love to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thank you to the amazing zissa for beta'ing this chapter for me and thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has read and enjoyed this fic, shared it with friends, and left reviews and words of encouragement. I hope you liked this last installment of The Schooner. I'm more than a little sad to be leaving my precious shy!Thorne, but he's in good hands now and I'm sure he'll be very happy. Also, isn't my new cover art absolutely wonderful? Big thanks to the beautiful and talented shanlightyear on Tumblr for capturing this perfect Cresswell moment.


	18. Epilogue

Thorne squinted his eyes against the bright Saturday afternoon sun. He let out a soft grunt as he made his way up the slope of the familiar hill leading towards his favorite bench by the edge of the lake. He took careful steps, hoping to not jostle the large model ship that he was cradling in his arms.

"Are you okay?"

He looked down to see Cress's blue eyes shining at him, her smile warm and bright. She was carrying a canvas tote bag with a large quilt poking up from the top, the hem of her yellow dress danced around her as a cool breeze tussled their hair.

He smiled. "Perfect."

"Good, because I don't want you to drop that thing and let all of my hard work go to waste." She held up two bandaged fingers and wiggled them at him while she eyed the fickle sails that she had painstakingly strung the day before.

Thorne threw his head back and let out a bark of laughter before bending down and giving each of her bandaged fingers a tender kiss. She beamed at him.

"Hey, you're holding up the line. This thing is heavy," Kate teased from behind them as she carried the model ship's wooden stand. "Besides, I'm starving." She quickly passed them and crested the hill.

Thorne blushed, but when Cress giggled and winked at him, he couldn't help but lean in for a quick kiss.

"Come on!" They heard Kate calling and they both grinned at each other.

When they finally reached the top of the hill, Thorne could see that the rest of the Rampion crew was already gathered around the bench. Kai and Wolf were lazily passing a football back and forth while Scarlet was bent over a large red cooler. Kate had already made it to the group and Cinder was helping her set up the ship stand.

Wolf noticed them first and tossed the football to Kai before jogging over. "Finally, you're here! Now we can eat!"

Cress rolled her eyes dramatically, "Lovely to see you, too."

Wolf chuckled and clamped a hand down onto Thorne's shoulder, making him jump and the ship swayed in his arms.

"Whoops. Sorry." Wolf looked abashed.

"Do you need help with that?" Kai asked, walking up to them.

Thorne shook his head. "Nah, I got it."

"You could carry  _this_ ," Cress said, pushing her tote bag into Kai's arms. She yanked the quilt out of the bag and left the boys standing there as she jogged towards the bench, already unfurling the blanket as she ran. She looked back long enough to yell at them to hurry up.

The guys stood there and laughed before following her. Even though Thorne had insisted that he didn't need their help, he still appreciated it when Wolf and Kai flanked him, keeping in step with his slow pace. When they joined the group, Scarlet began barking orders and the guys left Thorne alone to place the ship onto its stand.

He set the new schooner down gently, making sure to adjust the canvas tarp covering the ship's hull. He had designed a custom covering for the ship so that he could cover it without messing up the sails that Cress had spent a whole two weeks stringing perfectly. Kate had sewn the cover for him and when he stepped back to look at the schooner, he couldn't help but smile as he thought back to how much help he had gotten from the entire crew in the past six months.

Kate had done a lot of the wood cutting while his hand was still injured, but even after Dr. Darnel had removed the splint, Cress had ordered everyone to come over in shifts to help sand down all of the pieces of wood and they all had watched in amazement when Thorne began piecing the hull together. Every plank fell perfectly in place.

Cinder had insisted that she be present for the first test run of the motor and since she was going to be there, everyone had invited themselves to join. It had been a bigger production that Thorne would have liked, but he couldn't see any downside to enjoying another one of Scarlet's picnics. After that, however, he had insisted that he wanted to paint the ship himself and while Cress had been around to string the sails, even she had not seen the final product. That was the reason why they were all gathered at the lake that Saturday afternoon, to see the new ship sail its maiden voyage.

Sure, it had taken twice as long as the Rampion's build, but Thorne hadn't minded one bit. After all, he had a girlfriend and a large group of friends who took up a lot of his free time now.

When he had finished adjusting the cover on the schooner, he turned to the group. The middle of the picnic blanket was piled high with containers of food and everyone was already lounging around, waiting for him to join them.

He walked over and sat down next to Cress who had been saving a seat for him. She smiled and nestled herself against him just as another cool breeze swept through. Feeling her shiver, he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her temple softly. From across the group, Kate gave him a sly wink before turning to talk to Kai. Thorne couldn't help but grin.

"Are we sailing first or eating first?" Thorne asked, looking around the group.

"Eating. Definitely eating," Wolf replied, already reaching for a plate with one hand and the closest container of food with the other.

The group laughed and began passing out plasticware and countless containers brimming with wonderful smelling food.

"Don't forget to save room for desert!" Cress reminded everyone before scooping a spoonful of couscous salad onto her plate.

They passed around couscous salad and green beans dressed with olive oil and lemon, mini mushroom quiches and slices of chicken roasted with rosemary and whole heads of garlic. Thorne couldn't remember the last time he ate this well and from the moans of appreciation coming from the group, it was evident that they all had a similar thought.

When Cress was done eating, she set her plate down and gave a great big stretch, then scooted over so the she could lay down, her head resting on Thorne's lap. He knew his ears were turning pink, but he smiled down at her and leaned back on an arm while softly brushing the hair away from her forehead.

As the rest of the group finished their food, one by one, they all began to stretch out and sigh with content. Kate even went so far as to rub her stomach and claim that she'd never have to eat ever again. Thorne chuckled softly, knowing that's all his stomach could handle.

Fifteen minutes later, when Wolf was finally done eating, he looked around to the rest of them. "Are we sailing a boat or what?"

Scarlet laughed, holding out an arm so he could pull her up and one by one, Wolf began grabbing each of their arms to pull them up. Cress squeaked when Wolf pulled so quickly that she nearly flew off the blanket and into the water. She smacked his arm and he let out a rough, gravely laugh.

Thorne went to his backpack that was sitting on the bench and rifled through the front pocket to search for the schooner's remote. When he fished it out of the bag and turned towards the lake, the whole group was waiting for him eagerly.

Cress stepped forward, beaming, and pulled a bottle of apple cider from behind her back. Thorne was glad to see it was apple cider and not champagne like last time. He smirked.

"You open it," he said, knowing full well that she would do a better job.

Cress unwrapped the foil and when the cork popped and flew into the lake, the whole group cheered. "Speech!" She said, nudging him.

He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. He knew she'd make him give a speech, but he still wasn't prepared for it. He cleared his throat. "Uhh…I just want to thank everyone for helping out with this build. It really means a lot to me that you guys are here."

Another round of cheers erupted.

He reached for the tarp covering the ship. "So, here she is…" He threw a glance at Cress before pulling the cover away and revealing the gloss black ship and its name in scripted gold lettering.

Cress took a step closer to the schooner and ran her fingers delicately over the words, Little Cress. She looked up at him. "You named your ship after me?"

Thorne smiled and nodded and before he knew what was happening, Cress flung herself at him and he was barely able to catch her in time.

Cinder took a tentative step forward and eased the full bottle of cider out of Cress's hand. "We don't want this to go to waste."

The group laughed, but Thorne was completely oblivious when Cress pressed a kiss against his lips and then lots of little kisses, over and over again.

Kai cleared his throat. "Do we need to take a lap around the lake, give you two a bit of privacy?"

Cress pulled away from Thorne and stuck her tongue out at Kai who simply grinned.

Thorne cleared his throat and stepped forward to place Little Cress into the water. Cinder handed him the bottle of cider and he splashed the starboard side of the ship before handing it back to her. He took a deep breath, flipped the power switch on the remote and then nudged the throttle forward with his thumb. The motor rumbled to life and pushed away from the edge of the lake, cutting a smooth arc in the water.

Thorne let out a long breath and everyone else jumped up and down and cheered.

Wolf whooped and Cinder raised the bottle of cider to the boat and took a swig before passing it to Kai. Thorne felt Cress squeeze his elbow gently and he looked down at her, a smile wide on his face. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. When the cider made its way to Thorne, he took it from Kate and took a long, deep drink. He laughed when he hiccuped and passed the bottle on to Cress.

After Thorne navigated the schooner one full turn around the lake, he passed the remote on to Cress who took it eagarly. Soon, everyone had their turn and even Wolf, who had originally been apprehensive about sailing the Rampion, was more than excited to take his turn.

After everyone had their fill of sailing and Thorne took another lap around the lake, Wolf and Kai helped him pull Little Cress from the water and returned it to its stand. Cress waited for them to finish so that she could take Thorne's hand and pull him towards the picnic blanket where Scarlet was pulling out one of her famous lemon cakes from the cooler and the rest of the group ooh'ed and ahh'ed. As Cress tugged on his hand, Thorne stood firm and held her back.

Cress looked at him, her eyebrow raised in amusement. She stepped back so that she was standing in front of him and Thorne's chest buzzed with warmth. He brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead and she closed her eyes, smiling at the touch. He leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose and she giggled.

"Thank you for everything," he whispered.

She opened her eyes and even now, after months of looking at her as much as he wanted, at staring at those eyes, he was still taken aback by their piercing blueness. She smiled at him and those eyes twinkled. "Anytime, Captain. Always."

His pulse pounded in his ears and the skin beneath her fingertips erupted in goosebumps. He pulled her close and the scent of roses danced around them. He knew he had never meant it more and he had to tell her. "Cress?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

She looked at him, her eyes scanning his, and when he thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest, she gave him a dimpled smile and replied, "I love you, too." And pressed her lips against his.

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Thank you to the wonderful lettered for being an amazing beta. Comments and likes are always appreciated.


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